The owner of the gas station where investigators say Robert Strang bought synthetic kratom denies that the pills found near the student's body came from his store.
asserted
pills → say → store
Court documents show that Ole Miss students Strang, 20, and Aidan Hamilton, 18, were found dead on Sept. 21, each discovered near similar packages of synthetic kratom.
asserted
each → show → kratom
Authorities said Hamilton "could have died due to a Pulmonary Edema," a conclusion consistent with a drug overdose.
uncertain
Hamilton → say → overdose
First responders who arrived at Strang's residence near campus found him "cold to the touch," according to dispatch audio.
uncertain
him → arrive → audio
A narcotics agent wrote in an affidavit that the pills found near both students were Smax Pseudo-DHM, and listed pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15(DHM) among the ingredients found on the pack near Hamilton.
asserted
pills → write → Hamilton
The Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily placed mitragynine pseudoindoxyl in Schedule I on Aug. 26, which bars its sale.
asserted
which → place → sale
A Mississippi law enforcement agent investigating the Ole Miss students' deaths said he believes "pseudoindoxyl" refers to that compound, and lab results confirming the pills' contents are pending, court documents say.
asserted
documents → investigate → contents
After speaking with Strang's roommates, agents learned he had been buying "Smax" pills at Express Mart #7, a gas station in Water Valley, Mississippi, a little over 20 minutes from Ole Miss.
asserted
he → speak → Valley
An undercover Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics agent later bought a similar form of Smax Pseudo pills at the store.
asserted
agent → buy → store
The package lists pseudoindoxyl as its ingredient, which the narcotics agent says he believes is short for mitragynine pseudoindoxyl.
asserted
he → list → pseudoindoxyl
Ibrahim Aydah, the owner of the gas station, told Fox News Digital he doesn't believe the "Smax" pills found near Strang came from his store.
asserted
pills → tell → store
He said he doesn't put price labels on his products, while the pack near Strang had a price on it, also claiming he doesn't carry the 200 mg version.
asserted
he → say → version
"The package that I see on the news, it wasn't from my store," Aydah said.
asserted
Aydah → see → store
I never carry 200.
asserted
I → carry → 200
And it has different ingredients in it than mine."
asserted
it → have → mine
According to court documents, a store clerk told the undercover agent that they were out of the 200 mg version.
uncertain
they → accord → version
Aydah said federal agents seized all of the kratom products in his store Friday, and said he wishes he would have gotten notice from the federal government that he was carrying illegal products.
"Yes, they took all my stuff.
asserted
they → say → stuff
I lost everything and it's a law."
asserted
it → lose → everything
Aydah said.
asserted
Aydah → say → ?
"The federal law bans it.
asserted
law → ban → it
I was shocked."
asserted
I → shock → ?
"You see about 15 cars [of] police, undercover, everywhere.
asserted
You → see → police
I was at the house and I came and dropped by.
asserted
I → come → house
I opened the office...they checked everything.
asserted
they → open → everything
They took everything," Aydah said of the raid, which he said was conducted by the DEA.
asserted
he → take → DEA
Asked what he would say to the families of the students, Aydah offered condolences.
asserted
Aydah → ask → condolences
"I feel sorry for the young kids who lost their lives to an overdose.
asserted
who → feel → overdose
You know, it hurts.
asserted
it → know → ?
I feel them.
asserted
I → feel → them
Their friends, their classmates, and everyone...you know, he's a young kid," Aydah said.
asserted
Aydah → know → ?
A spokeswoman for the DEA told Fox News Digital that the agency executed a search warrant at the gas station on Friday, noting that it's part of an "ongoing investigation."
"The Aug. 26 scheduling order does cover products that list ‘pseudoindoxyl’ on the label," she said.
asserted
she → tell → label
Aydah hasn't been charged by authorities or accused of any wrongdoing.
asserted
Aydah → charge → wrongdoing
In a statement Wednesday, Lafayette County Metro Narcotics, a department in the sheriff's office, stopped short of declaring that investigators found kratom itself near either student.
asserted
investigators → stop → student
"During the investigations, packaging associated with kratom-related products was discovered at both locations," part of the statement read.
asserted
part → associate → statement
The Sept. 25 affidavit reported toxicology results from the medical examiner were still pending.
asserted
results → report → examiner
American Kratom Association Senior Fellow on Public Policy Mac Haddow said Wednesday during a news conference that the specific drug found near both students is illegal.
asserted
drug → say → students
Haddow pointed out the sale and possession of some synthetic kratom has been illegal federally as of August and illegal to sell or possess in Oxford, Mississippi since 2019, and illegal in Lafayette County, where Oxford is located, since 2021.
asserted
Oxford → point → 2021
Fox News Digital reached out to the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics and the DEA for comment.
asserted
Digital → reach → comment
The Aporia
