Store clerk and son charged with illegally selling kratom after two Ole Miss students die from suspected overdoses | Mississippi

Federal authorities investigating the recent deaths of two University of Mississippi students have charged a store clerk and his son with selling an illegal kratom product, prosecutors said Friday.

A Mississippi drug task force previously urged people to avoid kratom, an herbal substance that acts as a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at high doses, after authorities found packages of kratom derivatives during a Sept. 21 death investigation.

It’s still unclear whether those substances contributed to either death — but federal prosecutors said both appear to be consistent with drug overdoses. Two state agencies were working to expedite toxicology reports for students, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a Sept. 23 statement. The Lafayette County Narcotics Unit said Thursday the investigation remains active and additional charges are possible.

Bank records show that one of the students, Aidan Hamilton, made several purchases in September at a vape, tobacco and beer store in Oxford, Mississippi, where the university is located, according to a filing in federal court.

On September 24, an informant sent to the store by investigators purchased kratom pills from the seller, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, who warned him to “be careful taking these pills because people were dying from them,” U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent Michael Dassance said in an affidavit.

Authorities then arrested Mosleh and his son, Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, who worked behind the counter, and charged them each with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Attorneys Scott Davis and AE Harlow Jr., who represent the elder Mosleh and Islam Mosleh, respectively, said in emails that they had no comment. The defendants appeared before a magistrate judge on Thursday, who ruled there was enough evidence to charge them.

Kratom, which comes from a tree native to Southeast Asia, is federally legal. But some state and local governments have banned it, and federal authorities have issued warnings about its risks.

Proponents claim that in its pure crushed leaf form, kratom is a safe, natural herbal supplement that can help manage pain, anxiety and depression, and ease the effects of opioid withdrawal. They say the danger comes from kratom derivatives, which are often synthetic and can be very potent.

In August, the DEA banned three compounds linked to kratom.

The Sept. 25 affidavit from Dassance, the DEA agent, said one of the banned compounds was listed as an ingredient in products seized from the Oxford store and Hamilton’s room.

Hamilton — a freshman from Englewood, Colorado — and the other deceased student, Robert Strang, a junior from Atlanta, were found in different locations, one on campus and the other off campus.

Investigators found opened packages of kratom, or synthetic kratom, labeled “Smax,” in Hamilton’s bedroom with some pills missing, according to the DEA agent’s affidavit. A package of Smax was also found in Strang’s room, although the affidavit says he purchased it at another store.

Yahya Mosleh told the informant who went to the store on September 24 to be quiet when other customers came in and pushed the kratom pills out of sight. When the customers left, he finalized the sale, according to the affidavit, again telling the informant to be careful.

Eleven states have banned kratom. Others, including Mississippi, have regulated it, in part by requiring people to be 21 or older to buy it.

The city of Oxford has also implemented its own ban on kratom.