FIRST ON FOX: The owner of the gas station where Robert Strang allegedly purchased synthetic kratom is disputing claims that the pills found near the student’s body originated from his store.
Court records indicate that Robert Strang, 20, and Aidan Hamilton, 18, both students at Ole Miss, were discovered deceased on September 21, each near similar packets of synthetic kratom. Authorities suspect Hamilton may have died from pulmonary edema, which aligns with signs of a drug overdose. Dispatch audio reveals that first responders found Strang “cold to the touch” when they arrived at his residence close to campus.
A narcotics officer detailed in an affidavit that the pills located near both students were identified as Smax Pseudo-DHM, noting that pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15(DHM) were among the ingredients mentioned on the pack found with Hamilton. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classified mitragynine pseudoindoxyl as a Schedule I substance as of August 26, restricting its sale.
A law enforcement agent from Mississippi looking into the deaths stated his belief that “pseudoindoxyl” refers to the compound in question, with laboratory results verifying the pills’ contents still pending, according to court documents.
After interviewing Strang’s roommates, authorities discovered that he had been buying “Smax” pills at Express Mart #7, situated about 20 minutes from Ole Miss. An undercover narcotics agent later procured a similar type of Smax Pseudo pills from the same store, which also listed pseudoindoxyl as an ingredient, believed to be shorthand for mitragynine pseudoindoxyl.
Owner Ibrahim Aydah expressed to Fox News Digital his skepticism that the “Smax” pills linked to Strang were sold at his establishment. He mentioned that he doesn’t use price labels in his store while the packaging linked to Strang displayed a price and also claimed not to stock the 200 mg version.
In a statement, Aydah clarified, “The package that I see on the news… it wasn’t from my store. The package… the Smax is 200. I never carry 200. And it has different ingredients in it than mine.”
Evidence presented in court revealed that a store clerk informed the undercover agent that they had run out of the 200 mg version.
Aydah reported that federal agents confiscated all kratom products from his store recently and expressed his surprise at not receiving prior notification from the federal government regarding any illegal items in his inventory.
“Yes, they took all my stuff. I lost everything, and it’s a law,” Aydah stated. “The federal law bans it. I was shocked.”
He described the raid, saying, “You see about 15 cars [of] police, undercover, everywhere. I was at the house and I came and dropped by. I opened the office…they checked everything. They took everything. I’m a businessman. I’m not a drug dealer.”
When asked about his sympathy for the families of the deceased students, Aydah expressed his condolences, sharing his feelings over the tragic loss of young lives to an overdose.
A spokeswoman for the DEA confirmed to Fox News Digital that they executed a search warrant at the gas station as part of an “ongoing investigation,” reiterating that the August 26 schedule encompasses products labeled with ‘pseudoindoxyl.’
So far, Aydah has not faced charges or accusations of wrongdoing from authorities.
In a recent statement, the Lafayette County Metro Narcotics department refrained from stating definitively that kratom was found near either student, mentioning instead that packaging connected to kratom-related products was discovered at both locations. Furthermore, a Sept. 25 affidavit indicated that toxicology results from the medical examiner were still outstanding.
Mac Haddow, a senior fellow at the American Kratom Association, noted that the specific drug found near the students is illegal. He pointed out that federal laws prohibiting certain synthetic kratom products have been in force since August, while local restrictions in Oxford, Mississippi, have applied since 2019 and in Lafayette County since 2021.
Fox News Digital has reached out to both the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the DEA for their comments.
