Pills found near dead Ole Miss student didn't come from gas station after feds raid store, owner says, tell me about this news today

This news stems from the ongoing investigation into the tragic deaths of two University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) students, identified in court records as Robert Strang and Walker Hamilton, after synthetic kratom-related products were discovered near their bodies.

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Here are the key details reported regarding the gas station owner’s claims and the federal investigation:

• The Gas Station Owner’s Statement: Law enforcement documents indicated that Strang may have obtained synthetic kratom tablets from a gas station convenience store located roughly 30 minutes outside Oxford, Mississippi. In response to a federal raid at his business, the store owner publicly stated that the specific pack of pills found on Strang’s nightstandbranded as “Smax Pseudo Tablets”did not come from his store. His primary defense is that the packaging found by police bore a price sticker, whereas his store never uses price stickers on inventory.

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• The Federal Raid: While the owner denies selling that specific package to Strang, he acknowledged that his shop did carry “Smax Pseudo Tablets”. Federal agents (including the DEA) executed a search warrant and seized his store’s entire kratom inventory as part of a wider investigation. As of now, the owner has not been formally charged.

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• The Controlled Substance Issue: The pills in question reportedly list “pseudoindoxyl” (mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, or MGM-15), a potent synthetic alkaloid derived from kratom. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) temporarily placed the compound onto Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, effectively banning its distribution and possession nationally. In addition, Oxford and Lafayette County had already enacted local bans on kratom sales several years prior.

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• Vape Shop Arrests: The investigation has also reached local Oxford retailers. Authorities arrested two workers at an Oxford smoke shop after linking debit card records from the other deceased student (Hamilton) to recent purchases at the store. Both were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, though investigators have noted the charges are distinct from establishing an exact cause of death.

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• Pending Cause of Death: Official toxicology reports and autopsies from the state medical examiner remain pending to definitively determine whether the synthetic kratom compounds caused or contributed to the deaths.

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