Ole Miss deaths may be connected to 2 stores allegedly selling kratom products: Officials
Students Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang were found dead last week.
Mississippi investigators disclosed more details in their probe into the deaths of two Ole Miss students and allege a gas station convenience store and a smoke shop may have sold illegal kratom products to the victims.
Officers arrested two of the employees at one of the stores last week after they seized nearly $1,800 worth of the alleged illegal substance, but they have not been officially linked to the Sept. 21 deaths of Aidan Hamilton, a freshman from Englewood, Colorado, and Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta, according to the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit.
A criminal affidavit filed by the unit Monday provided information about a probable cause that linked the kratom-like products illegally sold at the two locations not too far from the campus: Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford and Express Mart #7, a gas station convenience store in Yalobusha County.
Hamilton and Strang died on Sept. 21 after police received two separate phone calls reporting that each student was unresponsive and possibly overdosing, the affidavit said.
Investigators found pills at both crime scenes that they said were either kratom or synthetic kratom.
Kratom products contain chemicals that can increase alertness, physical energy, and talkativeness. At higher doses, users may experience sedating effects.
The FDA has warned that kratom and especially concentrated synthetic 7-OH products can carry risks including addiction, mental health concerns and other serious adverse effects.
Advocates have called on the Food and Drug Administration for stricter regulations on the products and bans.
Toxicology reports on the two students are still ongoing, investigators said.
Investigators were able to discover that Strang allegedly bought the pills at Express Mart #7 on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11, according to the affidavit. Officers were able to go to the store and purchase similar pills to the ones found and have sent them off to crime labs for analysis.
No one from the business has been arrested or charged as of Tuesday.
Investigators also received Hamilton's bank records and found he made multiple purchases at Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer, the latest being the day before he was found dead, according to the affidavit.
A confidential informant working for the police, who allegedly had undercover audio and video recorders, was able to buy "kratom-based pills" on Sept. 24, according to the affidavit.
"The clerk told the informant to be careful taking the pills, because people were dying from them," according to the affidavit.
Later that day, narcotics officers obtained search warrants for the store and seized over 500 units of alleged kratom that were worth $1,799, according to the affidavit.
Preliminary forensic testing found that some of the pills that were seized indicated those pills had forms of kratom, according to the affidavit.
Officers arrested two store employees, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and his son Islam Mohamed, 18, and charged them with possession of Schedule I controlled substances with intent to distribute.
Attorney information for the suspects wasn't immediately available.
Oxford Police said in an X post on Friday that there may be more arrests and charges as their probe continues.
"Our message is direct: if you choose to illegally sell these substances in our community, expect law enforcement to come looking for you. We will investigate. We will obtain warrants. We will seize illegal products, and we will hold those responsible accountable," the police said in a statement.