Mississippi police seize kratom and make arrests after deaths of Ole Miss students

Metro Narcotics agents raided Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store in the 100 block of Heritage Drive in Oxford on Thursday, according to an Oxford police statement. Agents also seized THC cartridges, gummies and other suspected narcotics from the store.

Oxford police said kratom has been banned from possession, distribution and sale in the city since 2019. Yahya Mohamed Mosleh, 51, and Islam Mohamed, 18, were arrested in connection with the raid, though police have not detailed the exact charges they face.

The arrests come days after the student deaths, which authorities are still investigating. That timing puts new pressure on stores across Oxford that might be selling a substance the city already banned.

For families near campus, the raid raises a bigger question: how widely available was a banned drug that ended up next to two dead students. Kratom, derived from a Southeast Asian plant, is marketed by some sellers as a mild stimulant or pain reliever, but it remains unregulated at the federal level even as individual cities like Oxford move to ban it outright.

Two students are dead, a vape shop is raided, and a drug still legal in most of the country just got Oxford police kicking down doors.