This is what 400 tons of burning crystal meth looks like

The skies have been plied with palls of black smoke this week, but after weeks of burning authorities in Guangdong are still trying to dispose of their haul from last winter's raid on 'China's Breaking Bad village.'

On December 29 last year, 3,000 armed policemen in Guangdong raided the coastal village of Lufeng, assisted by helicopters, speedboats and armored vehicles. With a population of only 14,000, that equated to about one officer to every four residents. 

Over the preceding three years, Lufeng had turned its maze of courtyard houses and narrow lanes into one gigantic stone wall- and ceramic tile-covered meth lab, producing about one-third of the methamphetamine sold in China. 

Nearly 200 suspects from 18 drug rings were arrested in the town, where about one-fifth of households were involved in the drug trade - including the Communist Party village chief and a dozen other local officials. 

In total, police seized 400 tons (or 15 truck loads) of meth as well as hundreds of kilograms of ketamine and other drugs from Lufeng, which continues to see a heavy police presence.