Is Los Altos Hills the new Albuquerque? Nearly 14 years after notorious drug kingpin Walter Hartwell White, known as Heisenberg, was caught after terrorizing the Southwest with his meth empire, another player has been apprehended.

Science teacher Kim Hudson, known on the streets as Hudsonberg, has been arrested after she was caught checking on the money she had hidden behind Pinewood School. Santa Clara County Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents knew where to look for the high school science teacher turned criminal Her former partner and co-conspirator Monica Ventrice, another member of the science department, agreed to comply with the police in exchange for protection and reduced jail time. 

The DEA seized over $10 million in hard cash buried in a discreet hiding spot on a path near the school’s Upper Campus last week, commonly known by students as “The Turkey.”The Pinewood community is currently reeling from these recent discoveries, and many at the school are unsure of what comes next. 

The story starts three years ago in March of 2020. Quarantined at home with much more free time available, Ventrice reached out to Hudson about an idea she had and reportedly called “a chance at free money.” 

With the campus empty, Ventrice and Hudson began to sneak into science  classrooms, using the school’s supply of chemicals and lab equipment to cook some of the purest meth this country has ever seen. The two operated out of their classrooms every week for nearly eight months. Eventually, they were forced to cook out of a new remote location in Portola Valley once students returned to campus. 

For nearly two straight years, Hudson and Ventrice worked to make millions of dollars worth of perfectly crafted, 99.1% pure crystal meth. Everything went according to plan until Ventrice decided enough was enough.

“I couldn’t take the complaints anymore,” Ventrice said. “Students would come in begging for lab grades back and parents would call asking why I hadn’t graded the piles of papers stacked on my desk.”

Infuriated by her partner’s decisions, Hudson took it upon herself to become even more infamous than Walter White. 

When the name “Hudsonberg” began to trend on the streets and social media,  the power and fame got to her head. 

Hudson became more careless, hiding money at Pinewood and calling in sick much more often than normal, which causing students and teachers to become concerned. 

However, everything changed when Ventrice was caught smuggling her last few bags of money into her Tesla Model Y in the campus parking lot. 

She was reported to the police, and forced to work with the Drug Enforcement Association to take down her colleague and former friend. 

This story of partnership, dreams, and betrayal has led both Hudson and Ventrice down a dark path. As both teachers await sentencing, Pinewood School is forced to find two new science teachers. 

However, many questions remain. Are the stains on the walls of the science classrooms evidence of the teachers’ many crimes? Is there more money to be found on the Pinewood campus? Have other teachers been committing crimes? 

All will be answered when the two go to trial in the coming months.