Vape store clerks near Ole Miss campus jailed, facing drug charges

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 describe undercover purchases and the seizure of more than 500 suspected kratom-related products from the Oxford vape shop.

The affidavit dated Sept. 25 says investigators were still awaiting toxicology results from the medical examiner at the time.

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The charges come as officials await the toxicology results from the deaths of Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20. Both students were found dead with similar packages of synthetic kratom found to be in their possession, court documents say. The Mosleh’s aren’t accused in either deaths.

Packaging on the kratom items found near both men were labeled “Smax, Pseudo-DHM” tablets, which is a “Kratom like substance at gas stations or tobacco shops” that people buy for the “narcotic like effect,” according to the court documents.

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In September, Hamilton made multiple purchases at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford, where employees Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested Friday on a state-level charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, according to officials. Court documents did not establish that the kratom discovered near Hamilton at the time of his death originated from that store. One of those purchases occurred the day before Hamilton was found dead.

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According to court records, a confidential law enforcement informant visited Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store and inquired whether the store carried “7 O Kratom based pills.” A store clerk responded “yes,” then opened a drawer beneath the register and produced a package of kratom.

Mosleh allegedly told the informant to “be quiet” about the pills and to be careful taking them because “people were dying from them.”

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Over 500 units of kratom was seized from the vape store along with THC cartridges, gummies, pre rolls, and other suspected THC substances.

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Fox News’ Samantha Daigle contributed to this report.