Defendants are naturalized citizens? Deport if convicted?
The Justice Department issued the following statement.
Last week, a criminal complaint was filed charging Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Yahya Mosleh, 18, a father and son, with possession with the intent to distribute controlled substances in connection with a death investigation of two University of Misssissippi (Ole Miss) students. According to the complaint, on Sept. 21, an Ole Miss student, later declared dead, was found in his dorm room. The cause of death appeared to be consistent with a drug overdose. In the victim’s room, law enforcement found packages, some with missing tablets, of suspected kratom derivatives.
About an hour later, a second Ole Miss student was found deceased in a separate location. The cause of death appeared to be consistent with a drug overdose. Also found in his room were packages of suspected kratom derivatives.
Law enforcement identified a suspected link between the kratom derivative substance packages and a local vape, tobacco and beer store, and has executed several search warrants in connection with this investigation. Store clerk Yahya Mosleh and his son, Islam Mosleh, have been arrested and suspected kratom derivative controlled substances have been seized from the store.
Kratom is a plant-based product that has become increasingly popular in the United States for its stimulant and pain-relieving effects. Natural kratom is considered a stimulant in low doses and an opiate-like sedative in higher doses. Kratom derivatives, such as MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16, are now schedule I controlled substances and can be significantly more potent than natural kratom leaf products and morphine, with associated high risk of severe addiction, overdose, and death. Such kratom derivative controlled substances have been marketed and sold over the internet, and over the counter via head shops and convenience stores in the Northern District of Mississippi and throughout the country. Compounds like MGPI, MGM-15 and MGM-16 have been referred to as “gas station heroin.”
U.S. Attorney Scott F. Leary for the Northern District of Mississippi made the announcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office, Oxford Police Department, and the University of Mississippi Police Department are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Clyde McGee and John Herzog Jr. for the Northern District of Mississippi are prosecuting the case.
A criminal complaint merely contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Kingfish note: The Justice Department moved to ask the Court to deny bond and detain the defendants. A Special Agent's affidavit provides more information. Oxford banned Kratom sales in 2021.
Affidavit
I, Michael Dassance, being first duly sworn, hereby depose and state as follows:
INTRODUCTION AND AGENT BACKGROUND
I make this affidavit in support of an application for a criminal complaint that Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Yahya Mosleh for violations of Title 21, United States Code, 841(a) (possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and/or a controlled substance analogue).
..... (States his qualifications)
Based on the facts set forth in this affidavit, there is probable cause to believe that Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Yahya Mosleh have committed violations of Title 21, United States Code, 841(a) (possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and controlled substance analogue).
PROBABLE CAUSE
Based on training an experience, I know that Kratom is a plant-based product that has become increasingly popular in the United States for its stimulant and pain-relieving effects. Reports of seizures, organ complications, and deaths have raised safety concerns. Natural kratom is considered a stimulant in low doses and an opiate-like sedative in higher doses. On Tuesday, August 26, 2026, the DEA temporarily placed Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15, and MGM-16 in Schedule I. They can derived from alkaloids found in the kratom plant as well as produced fully synthetically in clandestine laboratories. Their synthetic nature and structural modifications can result in significantly higher potency compared to natural leaf products. Synthetic mitragynine compounds can be significantly stronger than morphine and carry a high risk of severe addiction, overdose, and death. The compounds are frequently sold in gas stations and convenience stores and are sometimes referred to as "gas station heroin."
On Monday, September 21, 2026, The University Police Department was dispatched to 508 Stewart Hall on the University of Mississippi Campus. The call was for an unresponsive male in his dorm room.
Officers arrived on scene, and the Oxford Fire Department was already on scene trying to render aid to Aidan Hamilton. OFD announced Hamilton deceased, and Officers took over the investigation. Agents with the Metro Narcotics Division of the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene due to the call being assumed to be an overdose. Upon arrival it appeared to the Coroner and other medical personnel that Hamilton could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema, consistent with a drug overdose. Agents and Officers also found pills in unopened packaging and opened packaging with pills missing that they believed, based on their training and experience, to be Kratom or a synthetic (analogue) form of Kratom in Hamilton's room. The ingredients are listed as: Pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15(DHM), 7-Hydroxymitragine. As noted above, Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15 are both controlled substances. The label on the package reads "Smax, Pseudo-DHM" tablets.Agents are aware that these are often sold as a Kratom like substance at gas stations or tobacco shops. Based on training and experience, I know that purchasers will often buy these pills for the narcotic like effect. The coroner took possession of the body, and Agents East and Stratton took possession of the Kratom, transporting it to the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics office.
Officers and Agents spoke with Hamilton's roommate, Delvis Valdes. Valdes stated he met Hamilton when he moved into Stewart Hall. Valdes stated that the deceased smoked a lot of marijuana from pens and pipes. Valdes stated that he would keep his marijuana in a safe that was located in the room. Valdes stated that he did not know about any hard drugs being used by Hamilton. Valdes stated he would bring the marijuana from Colorado, and he used it a lot, so much so, that he had a terrible cough.
Approximately one hour later, on the same day, September 21, 2026, Oxford Police Department Officers were dispatched to 328 Van Buren Avenue for a 20-year-old male not breathing and cold to the touch. Officers and EMS arrived on scene and found Robert Strang deceased. Agents East, Stratton, and Chequille Williams responded to the scene after receiving a call about the student possibly taking a Xanax.
Upon arriving on scene, Agents realized there were approximately 20 to 30 Nitrous Oxide cans. Roommates advised that Strang would use "whippets" daily, sometimes going through 2-3 cans a week. Also on the night stand was a package of Smax, Pseudo-DHM tablets. This is similar packaging of a suspected Kratom product that was found near Hamilton in his dorm room. The ingredients of the consumed Smax are listed as: Pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15(DHM), 7-Hydroxymitragine. As noted above, Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15 are both controlled substances. The ingredient of the red package and one of the Smax listed is Pseudo indoxyl and Pseudoindoxyl. Based on training and experience, your affiant believes that Pseudoindoxyl is short for Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl the full name of the Scheduled Controlled Substance.
After speaking with the roommates, Agents learned that Strang had spent Sunday watching football and hanging with friends. Around 1600 hours, Strang allegedly took a Xanax-bar. He was last seen between 2330 and 0000 hours in the kitchen before retiring to his bedroom. At approximately 1525 hours, McCall found Strang in his bedroom unresponsive and made the phone call to the 911 dispatch. Strang's body was taken by the Coroner and Agent East collected the tablets and transported them to the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics office.
After speaking with the roommates, Agents were able to find that Strang was buying the "Smax" from a gas station on Hwy 315 and Hwy 7 in Water Valley, MS later determined to be Express Mart #7, 700 Highway 7 South, Yalobusha County, MS.
Agents acquired bank records where it appears Strang went to Express Mart #7 on two separate dates and made purchases. The first purchase was on September 9, 2026, for $67.39 and the second purchase was on September 11, 2026, for $29.95.
Agents then decided to attempt controlled purchases at Express Mart #7, 700 Highway 7 South, Yalobusha County, MS. On September 22, 2026, a Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics UC went to that location to purchase Smax pills consistent with those found on the scenes. A clerk at store stated they were out of the 200 mg but sold him another form of the Smax Pseudo DHM pills consistent with the packages found at the Strang scene. The ingredient listed is Pseudoindoxyl. Based on training and experience, your affiant believes that Pseudoindoxyl is short for Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl the full name of the Scheduled Controlled Substance.
Following the purchase, the pills were sent to the Columbus MS Forensic Lab for analysis. On September 23, 2026, Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics UC went back to Express Mart #7 and again purchased more of the Smax Pseudo-DHM pills. Following the purchase, the pills were sent to a crime lab in Florida for analysis. The ingredients listed is Pseudoindoxyl. Based on training and experience, your affiant believes that Pseudoindoxyl is short for Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl the full name of the Scheduled Controlled Substance.
Aidan Hamilton's bank records were sent in by his parents as well. There are multiple purchases at Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer business location 113 Heritage Drive, Oxford, MS in Oxford, MS. The first purchase is on September 9, 2026, for $14.16. The second purchase is on September 14, 2026, for $26.16 and the third purchase was on September 20, 2026, for $87.18.
On September 24, 2026, Metro Narcotics Agents arranged for a confidential informant to go to Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer located on Heritage Drive. The informant was equipped with audio and video equipment and funds to purchase controlled substances, nitrous and Kratom. Upon entering the store, the informant made contact with the store clerk, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, and requested to purchase nitrous oxide, and the clerk informed him he had none for sale but offered marijuana from a jar and pre-rolled marijuana joints for purchase, the confidential informant declined to purchase marijuana. The informant then left the store and then returned moments later and specifically requested if the store sold 7 O Kratom based pills. The clerk informed him, "yes" and retrieved a key and opened a drawer under the register and pulled out a package of Kratom and placed it on the counter. The informant stated that is what he wanted, and the clerk pulled out multiple other similar packages and placed them on the counter. The clerk, told the informant to be careful taking the pills because people were dying from them. Other customers entered the store and Yahya Mohamed Mosleh then told the informant to be quiet about the pills. Mosleh then pushed the package of pills out of sight. The informant walked away until the group of customers left. The informant walked back to the counter and handed the clerk $100.00. Mosleh placed the pills in a black plastic bag, tied the bag closed, and told the informant to be careful with the pills. See below picture of the pills. The ingredients listed is Pseudoindoxyl. Based on training and experience, your affiant believes that Pseudoindoxyl is short for Mitragynine Pseudoindoxyl the full name of the Scheduled Controlled Substance.
Following the controlled purchases, on September 24, 2026, agents with the Metro Narcotics - Lafayette County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant on Puffs Vape Tobacco & Beer. Yahya Mosleh's 18-year-old son, Islam Yahya Mosleh was working behind the counter. Agents detained Islam Mosleh. Yahya Mosleh then arrived on the scene and was detained. Agents seized multiple schedule I controlled substances along with over 500 Units of Kratom. The schedule I substances were an assortment of THC cartridges, gummies, pre rolls, and other suspected THC substances. Agents seized the U.S. Currency in the registers as well.
The preliminary results for some of the substances that went to Columbus MS Forensic Lab were verbally stated the pills contained 7 - Hydroxymitragynine, an unscheduled form of Kratom. Based on training and experience, I know that the Columbus Forensic Lab did not have the capabilities to test the substance for MGM-15, MGM-16, or MGPI. Despite the Columbus testing, some of the packaging seized from the Hamilton scene and from Puff's Vape Tobacco & Beer list the ingredients as containing MGM-15 a controlled substance. Agents have arranged for the substances to be sent to an appropriate lab that can test for the aforementioned Schedule I controlled substances.
Agents are also still waiting on Toxicology results from the Medical Examiner's office.
Based on my training and experience and knowledge of this investigation, I submit there is probable cause to believe that Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Yahya Mosleh have committed the crimes of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and/or controlled substance analogue and that the substances sold and seized contained a controlled substance.
CONCLUSION
18. Based on the aforementioned facts and circumstances, your Affiant believes that probable cause exists for the arrest of Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Yahya Mosleh for violations of Title 21, United States Code, 841(a) (possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance and/or controlled substance analogue).
26 comments:
According to a news article, the business owner, Amer Alowdi was indicted for trafficking narcotics in 2022. Alowdi fled the country before prosecution. I wonder which country? I wonder what the citizenship status type of these 2 are & whether bond will be granted. How was this business allowed to operate?
Lock them up for life. Throw away the key.
Condolences to the victims' families.
Are the defendants in the US legally or illegally? There's a small convenience store not far from my home, also run by foreigners with similar names and heavy foreign accents, where kratom and/or kratom-like products are sold. I've been to the store to buy gas for the lawnmower and saw the wide array of kratom products displayed on the counter.
The GAS station lobby at the legislature is super strong!! Just ask Speaker Whitey, wannabe guv Dilbert, later Tater, BSS Pheel and the rest. Just examine their campaign $$$ donations
And now that some kids are dead you will finally see some traction on the gas station bullshit
Of course bond will be granted. They will flee. It’s cheaper than feeding them for 30 years.
Temporarily placed in Schedule I weeks before this happened? A lawyer will have a field day with this. It's a sad situation. But it is also sad to subject people to criminal penalties without notice that COULD be implicated under these facts. Were sellers and distributors of previously legal products advised that their products were now illegal, at least on a "temporary" basis?
So what happened to the narrative that the drugs came up from LA with the crowd for the OM/LSU game?
MBN needs to do a state wide sweep. Our legislature needs to get off of it's collective asses and do something positive. See this crap in most gas stations I have done business at.
The “kratom” that wasn’t. Wonder if “alcohol” was consumed with it.
Shame on the convenience store lobby if it is true they are blocking legislation to prevent this. If this legislation is passed this next session to prevent the sale of this crap and similar stuff, with the possibility of a manslaughter charge if you knowingly sell this kind of product (like in this Oxford case), my guess is that would diminish the problem tremendously. Oh, and save lives. Yes, there is that little fact for the convenience store lobby.
"Lock them up for life. Throw away the key."
Make them ingest their entire inventory, through a feeding tube if necessary. Won't get around to a need for a lock or the key...
It’s a family affair
If this doesn't get "kratom" and kratom-based derivatives banned in any and all form for retail OTC sale, one or more people in government need to be charged along with these two. Just one person's well-educated opinion, but anyone who lobbies against such a ban should look forward to being named co-defendant and co-conspirator. RICO may have its share of abuses, but it certainly has its share of uses.
Where the Mississippi Legislature is concerned, you know what walks when money talks. Check out "campaign" contributions from kratom interests like the convenience store lobby. Then spend an evening watching legislators in $2,000 cowboy boots walking in Tico's to soak up generous amounts of lobbyist whiskey and steaks.
You're kind are the reason America is dying.....not backbone to do what is just. The Old Testament world is pulverizing the New Testament world hands down....until perhaps they wake up to fight for their own self-preservation.
God help us.
The store sign at Vape Empire on Old Canton lists Kratom as one of their featured products.
The Indian Cartel is stronger than many people realize. I hope someone with the MBN and the DOR read my comment. We know that the Indian stores sell the Kratom and no telling what else, but the Indian Liquor store owners were obtaining their liquor for their stores out of state and storing it in a warehouse just south of Jackson behind a convenience store . During the ABC upheaval there was an Indian liquor store in Byram that was wall to wall and floor to ceiling fully stocked. They had no shame reselling Sam’s Club or Costco brand nor were they ashamed of delivering the liquor by the cases in small vans to this particular liquor store. I saw it with my own eyes as did several people that I know. So, yes I have first hand knowledge. Who is the distributor for the Kratom? That’s the head of the snake that needs to be cut off. It’s going to be a higher up in the Indian Cartel. Now, if the FBI would put as much effort into running the cartel out as they did the KKK and the Italian Mafia then that would be a huge win.
Will the pair flee. Of course they'll try. But surely law enforcement is smart enough to have collected passports to preclude their departure. Wait...Lemme rethink that.
Who among us is surprised that The Cartel has expanded it's business model and product line?
First, it was the junky, iron-bar-window convenience stores in the shady parts of town. Then motels. Then hotels. Then high-dollar convenience stores with gasoline as a secondary product. Next was buying out existing gas stations (Valero for example) and Subway sandwich joints.
Rare, but still part of the model were/are trendy restaurants in the few Mississippi towns that have survived (so far) gangs and yoot killings. Again, who can be surprised that illicit drugs have been added to the chicken, okra, green bean buffet lines.
Tragic. Some of this is confusing. First, if the DEA emergently schedules the compounds - apparantly they did in August - why is no law enforcement officer checking the product at the stores, or the State Health Department publicizing the hell out of it and putting out a PSA or something?
Why isn't it being pulled from the shelves? If it is dangerous enough for the DEA to emergently schedule it, it's dangerous enough for MS law enforcement community to act. MS AG Lynn Fitch should be all over this shit instead of worrying about prosecuting cops for good shoots to curry political favor. She has a whole division - Consumer Protection - that sits on its ass while this crap is sold in gas stations all over in the state? That's the real tragedy - ineffective political leaders. She should resign in disgrace.
Whatever form of pseudoindoxyl that Smax contained (apparantly they still don't know if the illegal form of that compound was in this specific Smax), the Smax stated on the label it contained "MGM-15" - unquestionably illegal as of 8/26. Teh shop keepers and our LE officers aren't chemists, but they can read. It would be interesting to know if Mississippi Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association (industry association) keeps up with this stuff and publicizes/warns its members. A search of its web site for Kratom and MGM-15 turn up nothing. Why not?
Regardless, why no arrest at the other store in Water Valley? They sold the same MGM-15? Maybe because that Water Valley store owned by someone not named "Mohamed" or "Islam"? Who knows.
Everybody stop at your local gas station on the way home. Look at the Kratom for sale, if it lists MGM-15, tell the cashier, and call the cops. Might not do anything, but if people die from it, there will be no credible "I didn't know", and it might get law enforcement off their ass to enforce the law and pull this product and save some lives.
Any evidence that kratom was the cause of death in these two deaths? The affidavit states the tox report is still outstanding.
"The Indian Cartel..."
Based on the names of the two arrested and the store's absconded owner, "Alordi," which is probably Anglicized, this group is not Indian, they are from the Middle East. I'd suspect that while there are obviously criminal groups of Indians (and most other nationalities) in the US, there is not a single unified "THE Indian cartel," anymore than all Mafia families, Mexican cartels, homegrown gangs, etc. work together as one single, unified "cartel." And if that's true, I'd further suspect that just like the other "cartels" in the various drug and other high-profit criminal endeavors, Indian cartels and gangs would be shooting and killing each other with the same enthusiasm (and often bad aim) as the others. That does not seem to be happening. I can further speculate why, but I do not know the answer.
If Trump, Hegseth, Miller, etc. are so hot to blow up drug boats, it seems getting serious about this poison should be a higher priority, if they really are serious about the stated reason of stopping poison from being distributed in the US.
No one buys street drugs assuming they are legal, safety inspected, and not really potentially dangerous substances. In fact, dealers could wind up dead selling fake or misrepresented street drugs. But these are a whole different thing: dangerous, often very dangerous, chemicals specifically developed and synthesized in an attempt to bypass laws and regulations while still mimicking the general effects of powerful narcotics. And then, packaged and being sold as safe and legal(ish) alternatives to street drugs.
Since the manufacture, packaging, and sale of these poisons are based upon willful deception and disregard for the consequences currently faced, maybe turning the consequences way, way up, ala the drug boat stuff, would go a long way to making the distribution of it in the US a lot less attractive.
These guys Indians? Um yeah.
Exactly. Law enforcement had a lot of political pressure to "do something!"....but they will be pled out to far lesser charges due to the timing. Now, the issue of whether there was cychlorphine in that stuff will be another matter, which is what was reported to be the actual synthetic opiate that killled them was - it's 10 times stronger than Fentanyl.
The Indian Cartels have their ends covered in more ways than you think. They have their own warehousing and distribution. They even have their own petroleum distribution to deliver fuel to their convenience stores. I have a friend who had issues with collecting funds after the fuel was delivered at a convenience store in jackson. The Indian had to learn the hard way that we do have laws here and they must abide by them. Most Indian stores use the “Indian owned” petroleum transportation/ delivery due to the cartel demanding them to do so. Have you seen any Baskin Robbin’s run by Americans lately? How many hotels are obligated to Indian owners? We need to be asking how many Indians are involved in the data center Prado is building in Ridgeland. If we had as much organized crime involved in these businesses as they do we would be in prison.
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