A Japanese university professor could face up to 10 years in prison after allegedly teaching his students how to produce MDMA to “further their knowledge” of pharmaceuticals, according to reports.
Tatsunori Iwamura, 61, has been likened to Walter White, the fictional chemistry teacher in the cult TV series Breaking Bad who starts manufacturing crystal meth after being diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.
Iwamura, a professor at Matsuyama University in Ehime prefecture, has reportedly admitted getting students in his pharmaceutical science class to make MDMA.
Drug enforcement officers, who were reportedly acting on a tipoff from someone outside the university, did not find any ecstasy during searches of Iwamura’s home or laboratory at the university’s college of pharmaceutical sciences.
But they did find traces of 5F-QUPIC – also known as 5F-PB-22 – a cannabis-like substance that was banned in Japan in 2014 after it was suspected of causing road accidents.
