"Breaking Bad" Fan Collared In Meth Bust

FEBRUARY 26--A 21-year-old man arrested for possessing the "makings of a methamphetamine lab" inside his Illinois home was wearing a “Breaking Bad” t-shirt when he was collared Monday night by sheriff’s deputies.

As seen in the adjacent mug shot, Daniel Kowalski had on a shirt with the logo of “Los Pollos Hermanos,” the fictional chain of fried chicken restaurants owned by a drug world associate of Walter White, the meth baron played by actor Bryan Cranston in the AMC series.

In the show, “Los Pollos Hermanos” serves as a front to launder narcotics money and its trucks are used to distribute meth for a drug cartel.  The fictional food chain’s logo includes a pair of smiling chickens standing back-to-back.

Kowalski was first arrested last July for allegedly operating a meth lab from his residence. As a result, he was placed on electronic monitoring as a term of his release from custody.

Acting on a tip that Kowalski may have returned to the meth trade, investigators performed a “home check” Monday and discovered “glass beakers, burners, chemicals, and instructional materials for making controlled substances” inside his La Grange Highlands home, according to a Cook County Sheriff’s Office statement. Police also seized a jar containing 12 psychedelic mushrooms.

Kowalski was charged with four felonies, including possession of a controlled substance and possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials. He was scheduled to be arraigned today on those counts (as well as a misdemeanor drug paraphernalia rap).

“Los Pollos Hermanos” t-shirts are available via the official “Breaking Bad” merchandise store (as well as from other online outlets, including Sears). The below “Breaking Bad” still shows White picking up a chicken order at the counter of a “Los Pollos Hermanos,” whose motto noted that “something delicious is always cooking." (1 page)