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Breaking Bad-style 'blue meth' found in southwest U.S.

Drug dealers are selling methamphetamine tinted blue in the southwestern U.S., mimicking the popular TV show Breaking Bad, officials say.

Department of Homeland Security in Albuquerque says distributors mimicking popular TV show

Walter White, played by Bryan Cranston, produced blue methamphetamine on the hit program Breaking Bad. Real-life drug dealers in the southwest U.S. are following his fictional lead. (Ursula Coyote/AMC/Associated Press)

Reality in the illegal drug world is mimicking fiction.

Spokesman Kevin Abar of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in Albuquerque, N.M., says distributors are selling methamphetamine tinted blue in the Four Corners region.

That mirrors AMC's hit drama Breaking Bad, which depicted an Albuquerque-based meth operation that cooked up the drug with a blue hue.

KOB-TV reports Abar says tinting meth blue is a way for distributors to advertise and brand their product.

He says the blue meth being sold makes people sick. He says it has been cut with chemicals to make it blue.

Breaking Bad last year ended its popular run after five seasons.