Mystery Deepens: What Really Happened at the Store Linked to Ole Miss Tragedy?
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An Ole Miss freshman found dead in his room bought kratom from a drug store that has since been raided – with staffers caught warning undercover cops not to buy the illegal pills because “people were dying,” court documents claimed.
Aidan Hamilton, 18, visited the Puffs smoke shop in Oxford on Sept. 9 and Sept. 14 to buy Smax Pseudo-DHM, a chewable form of the herbal supplement that’s illegal to sell there — the final trip coming one week before his suspected overdose death, WMC reported.
It’s the first time that the shop has been explicitly linked to the Ole Miss investigation the sudden deaths of Hamilton and Robert Strang, 20 — who also had a packet of Smax on his nightstand when he was found dead in his off-campus accommodation on the same day as Hamilton, court documents revealed.
When undercover agents went to the same store to buy kratom — a misused, opinion-like supplement often dubbed gas-station heroin — a clerk reportedly warned them “to be careful taking the pills because people were dying from them,” according to the documents, seen by WHBQ.
More than 500 units of kratom, THC cartridges, and other suspected narcotics were seized at the store in Oxford, where kratom has been banned for sale since 2019
Staffers Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were nabbed on a charge of possession of a controlled substances with intent to distribute.
The store’s owner, Amer Alowdi, was indicted for allegedly trafficking narcotics in 2022 but fled the US before prosecution.
Strang had the same Smax packet, but bought his from an Express Mart #7 store in Yalobusha County, as opposed to Puffs, according to authorities.
It’s unclear what role kratom played in the students’ deaths.
Court documents have shed more light on Strang’s final moments – revealing that he took a Xanax bar the afternoon before he was found dead.
Investigators searched the property and found 20 to 30 nitrous oxide cans and his roommates said Strang “would use whippets daily” and have “two to three cans a week.”
Strang and Hamilton’s causes of death are still being investigated and toxicology results are expected within two weeks.
Strang’s family said he “passed away peacefully in his sleep.”
“His sudden passing leaves an immeasurable void in the lives of his family, friends, classmates, and all who had the privilege of knowing him,” they said in a Legacy obituary.
Hamilton was someone who “loved the outdoors and found joy in hiking and backpacking,” his family said.
“[He] lived a life marked by warmth, energy, friendship, and a deep love for the outdoors,” they said.
Ole Miss students have been offered counseling by the university.
