Feds charge shop clerk, son with selling illegal kratom after 2 Ole Miss deaths

Federal prosecutors charged a Lafayette County store clerk and his 18-year-old son with selling illegal kratom products following the deaths of two University of Mississippi students, according to federal officials. The Mississippi Drug Task Force had previously warned the public about the dangers of kratom, an herbal substance that can act as a stimulant or sedative, after finding packages of kratom derivatives during an investigation into the students' deaths on September 21.

The Oxford-based store, where the students purchased kratom products, was investigated by the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics. Bank records revealed that one of the students, Aidan Hamilton, made multiple kratom purchases from the store in September. On September 24, an informant working with investigators purchased kratom-based pills from the store's clerk, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51.

Mosleh warned the informant about the potential dangers of the pills, stating that people were dying from them, according to a federal affidavit.

Mosleh and his son, Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, were arrested at the store on September 25. Both face one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Their attorneys, Scott Davis and A.E. Harlow Jr., declined to comment to the media. Kratom, which originates from a Southeast Asian tree, is legal at the federal level but has been banned or regulated in various states, including Mississippi.

The students, Aidan Hamilton and Robert Strang, were found with opened packages of a kratom product labeled "Smax" in their respective rooms. Authorities suspect a connection between these packages and the store where the Moslehs worked.