Court documents reveal that Amer Alowdi, the owner of Puffs Vape, Tobacco and Beer Store near the Ole Miss campus, was indicted in 2022 for allegedly trafficking hundreds of doses of an illegal synthetic cannabinoid and subsequently fled the country before facing prosecution. This revelation comes as law enforcement recently raided his shop following investigations into the deaths of two Ole Miss students, where packaged kratom—an illegal substance in Lafayette County—was discovered. While the connection between the vape shop arrests and the student deaths remains unclear, the two arrested men, Yahya Mohamed Mosleh and Islam Mohamed, along with Alowdi, are all naturalized citizens born in Yemen. Alowdi had been under narcotics investigators’ radar since March 2020, when agents made controlled purchases of suspected synthetic cannabinoid cartridges from another business he owned and operated. Subsequent surveillance observed Alowdi at a Tupelo warehouse loading boxes into vehicles, including a Penske truck, before being pulled over on his return to Oxford. A search of his vehicle yielded vape products, suspected illicit cannabinoid cartridges, and Viagra, though he was not arrested pending lab results. Investigators also suspected Alowdi had ties to other Mississippi stores. Despite a denied motion to dismiss his charges in 2024, Alowdi, who entered the U.S. in 2014, faces potential penalties of 40 years in prison and a $1 million fine if convicted.
Adapted from: U.S. News Today on Fox News
