OXFORD, Miss. – Court records obtained by News Media show that the owner of a vape shop near the University of Mississippi campus had previously been indicted on allegations that he trafficked hundreds of doses of an illegal synthetic cannabinoid.
News Media previously reported that Amer Alowdi, 40, was indicted in 2022 and left the country before he could face formal prosecution, according to court documents. Alowdi owns Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford.
Authorities raided the store last week as part of an investigation into the deaths of two Ole Miss students. Investigators found packaged kratom, a substance that is illegal in Lafayette County, Mississippi.
Robert Strang pictured in an undated family photo. The 20-year-old University of Mississippi junior died under suspicious circumstances. (Strang family)
Aidan Hamilton, an 18-year-old University of Mississippi freshman, appears in these images that his mother posted to Facebook. He is one of two Ole Miss students who died under suspicious circumstances last week. (Facebook/ Kathie Mac Donald Hamilton)
Police said the search uncovered 500 units of the drug. Two men, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested in connection with the bust.
General view of Puffs Vape store, September 25, 2026, in Oxford, Mississippi. (Rashid Umar Abassi for News Media)
A Department of Homeland Security source told News Media that all three men facing charges were born in Yemen and later became naturalized U.S. citizens.
“Yahya Mohammed Ali Mosleh entered the U.S. in 1992, Alowdi entered in 2014 and Islam Yahya Mohamed Mosleh entered in February 2024,” the source said.
Interior view of Puffs Vape store, Sept. 25, 2026, in Oxford, Mississippi. (Rashid Umar Abassi for News Media)
The recent arrests were not Alowdi’s first encounter with narcotics investigators.
According to an incident report, agents went to a gas station in March 2020 and conducted two controlled purchases of cartridges they suspected contained an illegal synthetic cannabinoid.
The location was a Texaco station and attached convenience store on Lamar Boulevard in Oxford.
Kratom is a plant-based substance often marketed as a natural option for pain relief or opioid withdrawal, but experts warn that it can cause dependence, dangerous interactions and other serious health complications. (Getty Images)
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Court documents identify the station as another business “owned and operated” by Alowdi.
Several weeks after the alleged purchases, agents tracked Alowdi to a warehouse in Tupelo, Mississippi, according to the report. “On March 20, 2020 two agents from the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics Unit followed Mr. Alowdi from his store to a warehouse in Tupelo, Mississippi where Mr. Alowdi picked up several boxes containing unknown items,” the report states.
At the Tupelo warehouse, investigators reportedly saw Alowdi and two other men load boxes into vehicles, including a “yellow Penske box truck.”
Agents then followed Alowdi as he drove from Tupelo toward Oxford. They pulled him over after alleging that he was speeding.
With Alowdi’s consent, investigators searched the vehicle and seized multiple vape products, cartridges believed to contain the illegal cannabinoid and boxes of Viagra, the report said.
Alowdi was not arrested that day because authorities were waiting for crime-lab results on the seized products. Investigators warned him that he could be “facing more charges once the crime results came back.”
General view of Phi Delta Theta fraternity house on the Campus of the University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, September 24, 2026. Black ribbons are tied to the columns of the porch in honor of the death of fraternity member, 20-year-old Robert Strang from Atlanta. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for News Media)
The report also says investigators suspected Alowdi had ties to other stores in Mississippi.
In 2024, Alowdi filed to have his charges dismissed, but the motion was denied.
If convicted, Alowdi could face 40 years behind bars and a $1 million fine.