14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to keeping their customers happy, restaurant owners can always go for the usual good food, good service, and pleasant atmosphere.
Of course, they can also try and kick things up a notch by adding drugs to their food. Especially if they are dead set on getting arrested.
Not to beat about the bush, it was just a few days ago that a noodle restaurant owner in China's northern Shaanxi province was arrested and accused of purposely serving his customers a wee more than what they were paying for.
Noodles with a side of opium
The secret and very much illegal ingredient that landed this restaurant owner in trouble with the law is understood to have been opium. Thus, the man, named Zhang, stands accused of purposely adding this drug to the dishes served at his restaurant.
Mind you, the man wasn't serving noodles laced with opium simply because he was looking to make sure that his customers would have a very pleasant dining experience. On the contrary, he was hoping to get them hooked up on his food, Metro explains.
In a nutshell, he wished to make it impossible for people to stay away from his food. The end goal was to make sure that the restaurant would never be without customers, and his wallet would never be without money. Sadly, his plan failed.
How he was caught
Earlier this month, one of the restaurant's regulars was pulled over by police officers, who found that his blood contained traces of opium. The man insisted that he had never tried drugs, and to prove that he was telling the truth, he asked his family to accompany him to the restaurant and try the dishes he regularly ate.
When the man's relatives tested positive for opium as well, the police figured out that something was seriously off with the dishes served by Zhang and decided to launch an investigation. Eventually, they found that the restaurant owner was adding opium to his food.
Once the cat was out of the bag, Zhang was left with no choice but to confess. He told the police that his recipes were in fact a wee special, and even admitted that, back in August, he bought 4.4 pounds (nearly 2 kilograms) of poppy buds, which he had since been using to make a powder that he added to his noodles.
The good news is that the amount of powder that this man used to spice up his recipes was not enough to put customers in any real danger. Still, this does not change the fact that adding opium to people's meals without them knowing is illegal. Hence, it is to be expected that this man will spend some time in prison.