A PRESENCE of cocaine was found in former One Direction singer Liam Payne’s system as initial toxicology report has revealed by the authorities in Argentina.
Payne died last week after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
While the final toxicology results are not expected to be released for several weeks, the preliminary report, handed to local prosecutors on Monday, October 21, suggested evidence of cocaine exposure.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief journalists, emphasized that these initial results don’t provide a precise reading of the amount of cocaine circulating in Payne’s blood at the time of his death.
The preliminary report, widely reported in local media on Monday, is part of Argentina’s public prosecution investigation into the case, which is standard procedure when a death is sudden or unexpected.
Payne’s autopsy concluded that the traumatic injuries that caused his death were consistent with his three-story fall from the hotel window. Prosecutors have ruled out any involvement by others.
Argentine investigators discovered what appeared to be narcotics and alcohol scattered around broken objects and furniture in Payne’s hotel room, leading the public prosecution to believe that Payne may have suffered a substance abuse-induced breakdown around the time of his fall. The prosecution suggested that Payne could have plunged from his balcony in a state of “semi or total unconsciousness.”
Photos allegedly taken from inside Payne’s hotel room, published by local media, showed a white powder residue on a table and a shattered TV screen. Police also found a blister pack of clonazepam, a central nervous system depressant, and over-the-counter medications among Payne’s belongings. Shortly before Payne’s death, the hotel manager called 911 to report a guest acting aggressively and under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Investigators are also working to determine who supplied Payne with the drugs he consumed at the CasaSur Hotel in Palermo, a stylish neighborhood in the Argentine capital. Police have taken statements from at least three hotel employees, as well as two women who visited Payne’s hotel room a few hours before his death.
