Court Docs Link Same Drugs to 2 Ole Miss Student Deaths

Federal court documents say two University of Mississippi students who were found dead in Oxford on Sept. 21 had the same three substances in their bloodstreams, a development that adds new detail to an ongoing narcotics case tied to a local tobacco and vape shop.

According to toxicology reports disclosed in a court filing reviewed by Fox News Digital, 18-year-old Aidan Hamilton and 20-year-old Robert Strang both had mitragynine as well as the Schedule I controlled substances MGM-15 and MGPI in their blood. The filing surfaced ahead of the public release of the full toxicology report.

The same court records state that all three substances are found in Smax-Mango Breeze pills. Investigators determined Hamilton and Strang had those pills in their possession when they died.

In a September statement, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics said packaging associated with kratom-related products was found at both death scenes. Officers specifically recovered packages labeled Smax Mango Breeze MGM-15 at each location. The packages also reportedly carried identical $39.99 price tags, each marked by a black smudge on the first number 9.

Store purchases and federal charges

Authorities later arrested 51-year-old Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and his 18-year-old son, Islam Mohamed Mosleh, in connection with a narcotics investigation involving Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in Oxford. Federal court documents say investigators traced purchases made by both students at the store before their deaths, leading to federal drug charges against the two men.

According to the filings, agents conducted a controlled purchase from Yahya Mosleh and allege he sold them a product hidden in a locked container. The documents say the product had been banned by local ordinance for more than four years. After that purchase, agents obtained a search warrant and searched the store.

During the search, investigators said they found the same Smax Mango Breeze MGM-15 product, with matching packaging, matching listed ingredients and the same $39.99 price tag with a smudge on the 9. Laboratory testing, according to the court records, found that the products contained the Schedule I controlled substances MGM-15 and MGPI.

The documents also say bank records show both Strang and Hamilton made purchases at Puffs on the same date. Prosecutors argued that there was probable cause to believe the drugs caused two overdose deaths in Oxford and that the laboratory-tested products taken by the victims were the same type as those seized during the court-authorized search.

Statements in court filings

The court records further allege that Yahya Mosleh sold the products to a confidential informant after the students' deaths. During that sale, the filing says, he warned the informant that people had been dying from similar products and advised caution. Prosecutors also said he tried to conceal the sale when other people entered the store, then completed it after they left.

A federal judge ordered Yahya Mosleh held pending trial, finding that he posed a flight risk and had ties to another country, according to the documents. Islam Mosleh was granted release on a $20,000 unsecured bond with conditions that include a curfew and location monitoring.

The court documents also state that the owner of Puffs had previously been indicted by a state grand jury in Lafayette County, Mississippi, on a controlled substance distribution charge. Investigators believe he later absconded and is now operating the store remotely from Egypt.

Fox News Digital reported that it contacted the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi for additional information. The case remains under close scrutiny as investigators and the public await the full toxicology findings.