A pair of Ole Miss students had the same substances linked to kratom-like products sold at a local retailer in their systems when they died, court documents reveal.
According to court records obtained by SuperTalk Mississippi News, the toxicology reports for 20-year-old Robert Strang and 18-year-old Aidan Hamilton showed that both individuals had mitragynine, MGM-15, and MGPI in their bodies at the time of death. The three substances were notably present in Smax Mango Breeze pills the two had purchased before they passed on Sept. 21.
Smax Mango Breeze pills are illegal synthetic products that were reportedly being sold at Puff’s Vape Tobacco & Beer in Oxford. Two of the store’s employees — 51-year-old Yahya Mosleh and 18-year-old Islam Mohamed — are now facing federal charges in connection with the two students’ deaths after authorities executed a search warrant at the retail outlet.
“Significantly, both overdose victims’ bank records reflect that they made purchases on the same date and that the evidence supported that the three Smax – Mango Breeze MGM-15 packages came from Puffs,” a portion of an Oct. 2 court filing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi reads.
The arrests of Mosleh and Mohamed followed the Lafayette Metro Narcotics Unit using an undercover informant to make a controlled purchase.
The transaction reportedly took place on Sept. 24. The informant, equipped with audio and video equipment, reportedly went into the store to buy nitrous oxide and kratom. Upon entering the store, the informant reportedly made contact with Mosleh. The clerk reportedly told the informant that he lacked nitrous oxide but offered marijuana from a jar of pre-rolled joints.
The informant did not buy the marijuana but instead left the store. He is said to have returned moments later and specifically asked if the store sold kratom-based pills. The clerk reportedly said he had the products and retrieved a key to open a drawer under the register and pulled out a package of kratom and placed it on the counter. The informant allegedly stated that was what he wanted, and the clerk pulled out multiple other similar packages and placed them on the counter.
At one point during the transaction, the informant was reportedly asked to keep quiet when other patrons walked in, and the clerk removed the kratom products from the counter. The informant returned to the counter after the other patrons left. When he was purchasing the products, the clerk reportedly told him to proceed with caution because they were killing people.
“What is even more appalling about the defendants’ conduct is that despite selling products which were illegal to sell under a long-time local ordinance, and selling substances that had received significant coverage under local, state, and national news as being related to the deaths of the two students, Yahya Mosleh still sold a kratom-like substance to the informant in Oxford, Mississippi,” the court filing continued.
“As the purchase was being made, Yahya Mosleh even told the informant that people were dying from similar products and to be careful. He additionally attempted to conceal his sale when other third parties entered the store, only completing it to the informant when those parties had exited.”
While court documents reference the toxicology reports in Strang and Hamilton’s deaths, the state of Mississippi has not made them public at this time. Gov. Tate Reeves, however, directed authorities to expedite the production of autopsies and toxicology reports, but in a way that ensures the results are not tainted.
In the meantime, law enforcement officials in Lafayette County have urged state lawmakers to address “synthetic kratom-related products with the urgency this public safety issue demands.” In turn, Lt. Gov. Delbert Hosemann called on the legislature to ban kratom products statewide.
The governor, at this time, has not indicated whether or not he will call a special session on the matter. Nonetheless, the conversation about banning kratom products is expected to ramp up the next time lawmakers reconvene at the state capitol.