Kerala: 34-year-old vlogger held for encouraging schoolgirl to try ganja in video chat

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 10:
A
vlogger
has
been
arrested
for
allegedly
encouraging
a
school
girl
to
try
ganja
during
a
recent
video
chat,
which
has
gone
viral.

Francis
Nevin
Augustine
(34)
was
taken
into
custody
from
his
residence
in
Mattancherry
in
Ernakulam
district
here
on
Tuesday
and
his
arrest
was
recorded
later,
the
Excise
department
said.

An
Excise
team,
led
by
Mattancherry
Range
Inspector
V
S
Pradeep,
who
conducted
searches
at
the
house,
found
two
gram
ganja,
a
banned
contraband,
hidden
in
his
garments.

The
officer
said
an
inquiry
was
launched
against
him
after
the
video
chat
went
viral.

”We
could
not
recover
any
other
drug
from
his
house.
But
while
frisking
his
body,
we
could
find
two
gram
ganja
from
the
pockets,” he
said.

The
officer
also
warned
of
stringent
action
against
those
who
propagate
the
usage
of
drugs
via
social
media
or
any
other
way.

Ganja
worth
Rs
22
lakh
seized
in
Arunachal’s
Naharlagun,
1
arrested

According
to
reports,
while
in
the
custody,
Francis
was
heard
lecturing
the
cops
on
the
benefits
of
ganja.
“Marijuana
is
in
my
blood
and
I’ll
smoke
it
till
I
die,
no
matter
what
anybody
says,”
he
was
heard
saying
in
the
video
that
was
recorded
by
the
cops.

He
further
said
the
if
spinach,
cabbage
and
carrot
are
vegetables,
then
ganja
is
also
a
vegetable.
I
don’t
think
using
it
is
wrong.
The
seeds
of
it
fall
on
the
ground
and
grow.
It
is
a
medicine
for
all
diseases
and
will
use
it
till
death.