Ole Miss students' deaths tied to illegal kratom sold at Oxford smoke shop
Two University of Mississippi students died within days of each other after purchasing illegal kratom products from a local smoke shop that was later raided by law enforcement.
University of Mississippi freshman Aidan Hamilton, 18, purchased a chewable kratom product called Smax Pseudo-DHM from the Puffs smoke shop in Oxford on Sept. 9 and Sept. 14, according to court documents. He was found dead in his dormitory room a week later, with investigators suspecting an overdose.
The same product was found on the nightstand of 20-year-old Robert Strang, who died on the same day as Hamilton. Strang obtained his Smax packet from an Express Mart #7 store in Yalobusha County, not from Puffs.
Undercover agents who later visited Puffs were warned by a clerk to “be careful taking the pills because people were dying from them,” the documents show. The raid on the Oxford shop resulted in the seizure of more than 500 units of kratom, THC cartridges, and other substances that are prohibited for sale in Mississippi since 2019.
Store employees Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. The shop’s owner, Amer Alowdi, had previously been indicted for narcotics trafficking in 2022 and fled the United States before prosecution.
Authorities are still determining the role of kratom in the students’ deaths. Strang’s toxicology report indicates he had taken a Xanax bar the afternoon before his death and investigators found 20 to 30 nitrous-oxide cans in his residence, with roommates reporting frequent use of “whippets.”
Toxicology results for both cases are expected within two weeks, and the university has offered counseling services to students.