Inside a clandestine Mexican meth lab (big photo gallery)

Boing Boing readers following the violent convulsions of the drug war in Mexico, and fans of the AMC narco-drama Breaking Bad, will likely find these photos from a secret Mexican meth lab to be of interest (particularly in light of the TV show's most recent episode, "Salud.")

I can't find Jesse, Mike, Gus, or Heisenberg in any of these photos—but then, these images shot just today are the real thing.

Above: a full-face respirator gas mask hangs on a wall above plastic containers at the clandestine drug laboratory discovered in Zapotlanejo, on the outskirts of Guadalajara, September 23, 2011. Soldiers found 133 tons of a drug catalyst used in crystal methamphetamine production (phenylacetic acid, perhaps?) and 180 kg of crystal meth ready for consumption at the laboratory located on a ranch about 38 km (24 miles) east of Guadalajara, according to a local media.

The meth is no "Blue Sky," by the looks of it, and the modest gear would look out of place at the Pollos Hermanos superlab. Surely Jesse would not approve of the conditions, and it looks to be below even Don Eladio's standards. But again: this is real life.

(All photos in this post: REUTERS/Alejandro Acosta)