Vape store clerks face federal drug charges after tracing purchases made by dead Ole Miss students
OXFORD, Miss.– Two Oxford, Mississippi vape store clerks are facing federal drug charges after investigators say they traced purchases made by two University of Mississippi students before their deaths, according to court documents detailing.Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Yahya Mosleh are each charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, the documents show. According to a DEA affidavit, bank records linked Aidan Hamilton to purchases at Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer and Robert Strang to Express Mart #7 before investigators recovered similar suspected kratom products at both death scenes.Authorities also described undercover purchases and the seizure of more than 500 suspected kratom-related products from the Oxford vape shop.In a statement Wednesday, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, a department in the sheriff’s office, stopped short of declaring that investigators found kratom itself near either student.
“During the investigations, packaging associated with kratom-related products was discovered at both locations,” part of the statement read.The Sept.
25 affidavit reported toxicology results from the medical examiner were still pending.American Kratom Association Senior Fellow on Public Policy Mac Haddow said Wednesday during a press conference that the specific drug found near both students is illegal.Haddow pointed out the sale and possession of kratom has been illegal federally as of August and illegal to sell or possess in Oxford, Mississippi since 2019, and illegal in Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, since 2021.The affidavit dated Sept.25 says investigators were still awaiting toxicology results from the medical examiner at the time.The charges come as officials await the toxicology results from the deaths of Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20.
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