OXFORD, Miss. – Two University of Mississippi students were found dead near tablets whose packaging lists a compound the federal government recently placed in Schedule I, while the product is no longer available on the manufacturer’s website.
According to court documents, Ole Miss students Aidan Hamilton, 18, and Robert Strang, 20, were found dead Sept. 21 near similar packages of kratom or synthetic kratom products. Officials said Hamilton “could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema,” a finding that can be consistent with a drug overdose. When first responders arrived at Strang’s home near campus, he was “cold to the touch.”
The packages recovered near both students carried the Modus brand, court documents state. An affidavit identifies the tablets as Smax Pseudo-DHM and says the package found near Hamilton listed pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15(DHM) as ingredients.
On Aug. 26, the Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily classified mitragynine pseudoindoxyl as a Schedule I substance, making its sale unlawful. A Mississippi law enforcement agent investigating the deaths told authorities he believed the term “pseudoindoxyl” referred to that compound. Laboratory testing to confirm what the tablets contained was still pending, according to the court documents.
Robert Strang and Aidan Hamilton in a split image provided by their families. (Strang family, Kathleen Hamilton/Facebook)
Pending toxicology reports may help investigators determine what caused Hamilton’s and Strang’s deaths, the affidavit says.
Modus Brand, which maintains offices in Florida and California, does not currently feature Smax Pseudo Tablets on its website. The company describes the product as a “next-generation approach to botanical supplements, offering a carefully formulated, high-quality product in a convenient chewable format.”
It remains unclear whether Smax Pseudo Tablets were previously sold through the Modus website. The product is not listed there now.
Hamilton made several purchases at Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford during September. Store employees Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, court documents state. Each received a $100,000 bond. Officials have said they do not believe the arrests are connected to Hamilton’s death.
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)
The court documents do not show that the kratom found near Hamilton after his death came from Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store. At least one of Hamilton’s purchases was made the day before he was found dead.
Officials said Strang purchased the synthetic kratom-derived product found near him at a gas station roughly 30 minutes from Oxford, Mississippi.
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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)
The gas station owner told News Media that the Smax tablets found near Strang did not come from his store. He said his business does not place price stickers on its packages, unlike the package found beside Strang’s nightstand. However, he did not dispute that the store sold Smax Pseudo Tablets.
The owner also said federal agents seized all of the station’s kratom inventory on Friday.
Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor, told News Media that selling products containing MGM-15 became illegal after the DEA classified the substance as Schedule I. However, he said bringing a case could be more complicated.
“It would be unlawful for anyone, whether it’s a drug dealer or a gas station convenience store owner, to sell MGM-15 after it was categorized as Schedule I,” Rahmani said. “Now, to be prosecuted, the Department of Justice would have to prove intent.”
Stewart Hall, a dorm building on the University of Mississippi campus where an 18-year-old student is believed to have died on Monday. Dispatch records show first responders arrived within a minute of being sent to the address. (Adam Sabes/News Media)
Kratom itself is a plant, while MGM-15 and related compounds are synthetic versions, Rahmani said. The substances are “certainly not an apples-to-apples comparison.”
If testing determines that the Modus product contained a Schedule I substance, the company could face civil and potentially criminal liability, Rahmani said.
“There’s no doubt that Modus and any company that distributed this drug can face civil, even criminal, liability. If you put out a dangerous product, doesn’t matter if it’s a pharmaceutical, street drug, or really, frankly, anything else. It could be a vehicle, it could be social media. Products liability law does hold the company responsible,” Rahmani said.
“Now, in the case of something that’s outright illegal in Schedule I, there’s no question that criminal liability for the distributors can attach as well, and it can be the manufacturer, it can be the street level dealer, the wholesaler, anyone in the supply chain that distributes a Schedule I drug can absolutely be held responsible.”
Multiple calls and emails to Modus by News Media went unanswered.
News Media reached out to the FBI, DEA, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Mohamed for comment.