Breaking Bad Fan Convicted In Attempted Ricin Delivery
A Breaking Bad fan who ordered what he believed to be ricin from an undercover FBI agent has been found guilty of attempting to acquire a chemical weapon. Mohammed Ali, age 31, of Liverpool, claimed that his interest in ricin was sparked by its use in the TV show, where it was featured several times, including in the final episode, “Felina.”
The Guardian reports that although the judge, Mr. Justice Saunders, said that he did not believe Mr. Ali intended to commit a terrorist attack, or planned to harm any specific person, he believes that Ali would have kept the substance he believed to be ricin.
“I do not accept he was going to dispose of it. I’m satisfied it would have remained in his possession in some way and that is the basis on which I propose to sentence.”
The BBC reported that Ali claimed he was going to dispose of the substance he thought to be ricin the day he was arrested.
Speaking at The Old Bailey, Ali had said he was interested in the darknet and whether you could really “get anything” from the sites. He said that “because I had been watching Breaking Bad I just had ricin in my mind.” He also claimed to be unaware that ricin was illegal.
According to The Guardian, in one message to the FBI agent, who went by the username “Psychochem,” Ali had said that he liked “the idea of five separate vials” of the ricin, asking “are we talking Breaking Bad-style?”
According to the Daily Mail, Ali took delivery of a toy car with “special batteries” containing what he believed to be 500 mg of ricin, but which instead contained a harmless, dummy substance, on February 10. The FBI had tipped off police, and Ali was arrested. According to The Daily Express, police had also treated the package with a substance which showed up under ultraviolet light, which demonstrated that he had handled the package.
Ricin is an extremely deadly poison, with just 1.78 mg needed to kill an average adult. The Daily Mail reports that evidence shows Ali had also been searching for information on cyanide and abrin, an even deadlier toxin than ricin.
Ali had also asked the undercover agent how to test the ricin, who replied “You must test it on a rodent.” The Guardian reports that Ali made searches for “small sized pets” and “Liverpool pet shop,” after he took delivery of the substance, and at one point made a note saying “get pet to murder.”
Speaking in court, Ali said that after a few searches, he had begun searching for his son.
“After doing a few searches I realized this is a very stupid, very very stupid thing to do, and I stopped looking for any sort of pets and started searching for Pets Direct for my son.”
According to The Irish Times, Ali made a payment of 2.1849 bitcoins on February 4, worth around $500 at the time.
The head of the Crown Prosecution Service’s counter-terrorism division, Sue Hemming, said that the jury has rejected Ali’s claims that he attempted to purchase ricin in an attempt to understand the dark web, saying the evidence showed that Ali was well aware of the danger posed by ricin.
“Ricin is a naturally occurring poison which is fatal even in very small doses. Ali knew the dangers of ricin and had been researching poisons for months before he attempted to obtain it. The evidence also showed that he was planning to test it on an animal that he was hoping to buy.”
Ali was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome after his arrest, and a psychiatric report will take place before he is sentenced on September 18, The Daily Express reports.
Ricin was featured several times in Breaking Bad, and its prominence was also suggested as an inspiration in another case at Georgetown University.
[Lead image by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images, photo of car by Greater Manchester Police, via Facebook, photo of Ali by Greater Manchester Police, via Metro.]
