Two Oxford Vape Clerks Charged in Ole Miss Kratom Investigation

A federal judge found probable cause on Oct. 1 to move forward with drug charges against two clerks from an Oxford, Mississippi, vape store that investigators have tied to one of two University of Mississippi students found dead last month.

Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mosleh, 18, each face a federal charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to court documents. Both appeared in federal court that day.

Neither man is accused in the deaths of Aidan Hamilton, 18, or Robert Strang, 20. The two students were found dead in separate locations on Sept. 21, and their causes of death have not been confirmed. A DEA affidavit dated Sept. 25 said investigators were still waiting on toxicology results from the medical examiner.

Bank records linked Hamilton to purchases at Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer in Oxford and Strang to purchases at Express Mart #7, the affidavit said. Investigators recovered similar suspected kratom products at both death scenes.

A $100 sale out of a locked drawer

Lafayette County Metro Narcotics sent a confidential informant into Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store on Sept. 24, equipped with audio and video gear, a court filing says. The informant went in to buy nitrous oxide and kratom.

The clerk said he had no nitrous oxide and offered marijuana from a jar of pre-rolled joints instead, according to the filing in Lafayette County Circuit Court. The informant did not buy it and walked out. He came back moments later and asked specifically whether the store sold "7-OH Kratom-based pills."

The clerk said yes, got a key, unlocked a drawer beneath the register and set a package of kratom on the counter. When the informant said that was what he wanted, the clerk pulled out several more packages and laid them out.

Then other shoppers came through the door.

"Other customers entered the store, and Yahya Mohamed Mosleh then told the informant to be quiet about the pills. Mosleh then pushed the package of pills out of sight," the court documents read. "The informant walked away until the group of customers left. The informant walked back to the counter and handed the clerk $100.00. Mosleh placed the pills in a black plastic bag, tied the bag closed, and told the informant to be careful with the pills."

Records show the clerk told the informant to "be careful taking the pills, because people are dying from them."

500 units seized, then a sticky note on the door

Oxford police executed a search warrant at the store after the controlled buy. Agents seized more than 500 units of kratom and kratom-like products, along with an assortment of THC cartridges, gummies, pre-rolls and other suspected THC substances, the arrest affidavit says.

The two clerks were arrested Sept. 25 and charged at the state level with possession of Schedule I controlled substances with intent to distribute. The federal charge followed.

By Sept. 30, the Puffs storefront was shut. A handwritten sticky note on the front door read "closed perm."

Two stores, five purchases, 12 days

Bank records show Hamilton bought the pills at Puffs on Sept. 9, Sept. 14 and Sept. 20. One of those purchases came the day before he was found dead.

Strang bought the same brand on Sept. 9 and Sept. 11 at an Express Mart gas station in Water Valley, in Yalobusha County, about 30 minutes from Oxford. Agents purchased similar products at the Water Valley store and sent them off for testing for controlled substances, investigators said.

Court documents did not establish that the kratom found near Hamilton when he died came from Puffs.

What officers found at the two scenes

Hamilton, a freshman, was found dead at Stewart Hall on the Ole Miss campus. Strang, a junior, was found dead at a house on Van Buren Avenue near campus. Police were dispatched to the second scene about an hour after the first.

A package of "Smax, Pseudo-DHM" tablets sat on Strang's night stand, along with 20 to 30 cans of nitrous oxide, known as whippets, court records show. His roommates told officers he used them daily, and that he had been watching football and took a Xanax bar the day before he was found. First responders found him "cold to the touch."

Hamilton's roommate told authorities that Hamilton smoked a lot of marijuana from pens and pipes, that he brought it with him from his home state, and that he used it enough to develop a cough. The roommate said he did not know Hamilton to use hard drugs. The coroner and medical personnel at the scene said Hamilton "could have died due to a pulmonary edema, consistent with a drug overdose," according to court documents.

The pills were not kratom leaf

Smax Pseudo-DHM is a chewable, concentrated tablet sold as a synthetic kratom-like product. Court documents describe it as a "Kratom like substance at gas stations or tobacco shops" that buyers want for the "narcotic like effect."

Mac Haddow, senior fellow on public policy for the American Kratom Association, said at a press conference on Sept. 30 that the specific drug found near both students is illegal. The DEA temporarily placed its synthetic compounds on Schedule I in August. Oxford banned kratom itself in 2019, and Lafayette County, where Oxford sits, followed in 2021.

Kratom itself is not a federally controlled substance, and the rules vary by state. Both Colorado, where Hamilton was from, and Mississippi recently passed laws regulating it.

Investigators are pushing the Legislature

Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, a unit of the sheriff's office, stopped short in a Sept. 30 statement of saying kratom itself turned up near either student. "During the investigations, packaging associated with kratom-related products was discovered at both locations," part of the statement read.

The unit also pushed back on how its early warning was read. That warning "was not a declaration that kratom or any specific substance caused either death," the statement said. "It was a proactive effort to inform the public of a potential danger while investigators worked to determine the facts."

The same statement called on Mississippi lawmakers to ban synthetic kratom products outright. "We need immediate legislative hearings, a thorough examination of the state's controlled substance laws, and clear answers about how manufacturers, distributors and retailers can be held accountable when their actions put lives at risk," the unit said. It added that the investigations are far from over.

Gov. Tate Reeves confirmed that the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation are working with local officials to speed up the two autopsies in a way that keeps the results from being tainted.

The store's owner is a person of interest

The owner of Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer is also a person of interest in the case. He reportedly left the country in 2022 after being indicted for trafficking narcotics, according to the court filing.

On campus, a warning about rumors

Ole Miss named the two students on Sept. 24. Hamilton was a freshman from Englewood, Colorado. Strang was a junior from Atlanta, and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity said he was a member.

"We are heartbroken by the loss of our dear son, Robert, and are trying to process this unimaginable loss," the Strang family said in a statement. The family thanked friends and relatives for an outpouring of support and asked for privacy.

The Hamilton family called Aidan Hamilton "a bright, wonderful young man who was taken too soon." They said he is greatly missed and asked people to respect the family's privacy.

Shawnboda Mead, the university's vice chancellor for student affairs, told students that bad information was circulating. "We know there is heightened media attention and that you may be eager for answers. We also recognize that inaccurate information is being shared by individuals who do not have access to the facts," she said in a statement.

Mead asked the campus community not to repeat anything that has not been officially confirmed and to avoid public speculation while both causes of death remain under investigation.

Metro Narcotics says both cases are still open.

Anyone struggling with substance use can call the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.