Ole Miss deaths spark drug use conversation on college campuses
Mississippi Public Safety Commissioner Sean Tindell is addressing the investigation into the deaths of two University of Mississippi students as concerns increase over the safety of the herbal supplement kratom. Tindell urged parents to have open, candid conversations with their children about drug use.
According to court records, a clerk at an Oxford, Mississippi, vape store told a confidential informant that “people were dying” from kratom sold there. The records also show that one of the two Ole Miss students found dead had made purchases at the store.
Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, were found dead Sept. 21. Court documents state that both had similar packages of kratom or synthetic kratom in their possession. Officials said Hamilton “could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema,” a condition that can be consistent with a drug overdose. First responders found Strang “cold to the touch” at his home near campus.
The packages found near both students were labeled “Smax, Pseudo-DHM” tablets. Court records describe the product as a “Kratom like substance at gas stations or tobacco shops” that is purchased for its “narcotic like effect.”
Robert Strang and Aidan Hamilton in a split image provided by their families. (Strang family, Kathleen Hamilton/Facebook)
Hamilton made several purchases in September at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford. Store employees Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested and charged with possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. Court documents do not state that the kratom found near Hamilton after his death came from the store. One of his purchases was made the day before he was found dead.
A confidential informant working with law enforcement visited Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store and asked whether it sold “7 O Kratom based pills,” according to court records. A clerk reportedly confirmed that it did, opened a drawer beneath the register and removed a package of kratom.
Mosleh allegedly told the informant to “be quiet” about the pills and warned them to use caution, saying that “people were dying from them.”
DON’T MISS: Transgender New York Times Games Executive Killed Amid Custody Battle After Alleging Years of Abuse by In-Laws
A package of Smax Pseudo-DHM tablets, a synthetic kratom-derived product, that authorities say was found near Aidan Hamilton when paramedics arrived. (Court records)
Authorities seized more than 500 units of kratom from the vape store, along with THC cartridges, gummies, pre-rolls and other suspected THC products.
Hamilton’s roommate told investigators that Hamilton frequently smoked marijuana but said he was not known to use hard drugs.
About an hour after Hamilton was found dead, police responded to a house near campus and discovered Strang’s body. A package of “Smax, Pseudo-DHM” tablets was found on his nightstand, along with 20 to 30 nitrous oxide canisters, commonly called “whippets.” Strang’s roommates said he used the canisters daily. They also told officers that Strang had been watching football and took a Xanax bar the day before he was found.
Packages of synthetic kratom products, including Smax Pseudo-DHM and Smax Pseudo tablets, that authorities say were found at the scene where Robert Strang was discovered dead. (Court records)
Officials said Strang purchased the synthetic kratom-derived product at a gas station roughly 30 minutes from Oxford.
Investigators have not determined what role, if any, kratom played in the deaths of Hamilton and Strang.