Prosecutors probing deaths of 2 Ole Miss students charge shop clerk, son with selling illegal kratom

Federal authorities investigating the deaths of two University of Mississippi students have charged a store clerk and his son with selling an illegal kratom product, prosecutors announced Friday.A drug task force in Mississippi had previously urged people to avoid kratom, an herbal substance that acts as a stimulant at low doses and a sedative at high doses, after authorities found packages of kratom derivatives while investigating the deaths on Sept. 21.It is still not clear whether those substances contributed to either death, but federal prosecutors said both appear consistent with drug overdoses. Two state agencies were working to expedite toxicology reports for the students, Mississippi Gov.

Tate Reeves said in a statement last week. Lafayette County Metro Narcotics said Thursday the investigation remained active and additional charges were possible.Bank records show one of the students, Aidan Hamilton, made multiple purchases in September from a vape, tobacco and beer store in Oxford, Mississippi, where the university is located, according to a federal court filing.On Sept. 24, an informant sent to the store by investigators purchased kratom-based pills from the clerk, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, who warned the informant to “be careful taking the pills because people were dying from them," U.S.

Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent Michael Dassance said in an affidavit.Authorities later detained Mosleh and his son, Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, who was working behind the counter, and charged them each with one count of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.Scott Davis, an attorney for the elder Mosleh, and A.E. Harlow, Jr., an attorney for Islam Mosleh, said in emails that they had no comment. The defendants appeared Thursday before a magistrate judge, who ruled there was sufficient evidence to charge them.Kratom, which comes from a tree native to Southeast Asia, is legal at the federal level.

But some state and local governments have banned it, and federal authorities have issued warnings about its risks.Proponents say that in its pure, ground-leaf form, kratom is a safe, natural herbal supplement that can help manage pain, anxiety and depression and ease the effects of opioid withdrawal. They say the danger is from kratom derivatives, which are often synthetic and can be highly potent. In August, the DEA banned three kratom-rel…

Federal prosecutors have charged a store clerk and his son with selling kratom that authorities believe is linked to the death of a University of Mississippi student, prosecutors announced Friday.