Police say Liam Payne was taking ‘potent’ drug that caused hallucinations when he died
Police say Liam Payne was under the influence of a potent hallucinogenic drug before he fell to his death in Argentina last week.
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Liam Payne was under the influence of potent hallucinogenic drugs that cause psychotic attacks and hallucinations when he died in Argentina last Wednesday, TMZ reports.
Buenos Aires police officers told the outlet that the former One Direction star was potentially high on an illegal drug known in Argentina as “Cristal,” which is a dangerous substance that “causes users to experience extreme highs and extreme lows, often making them aggressive.”
The substance is also “known to cause psychotic attacks and hallucinations.”
It’s unclear at this stage if the “cristal” police officers are referring to is in fact crystal meth, which is sometimes referred to as “crystal.”
Police told TMZ his reported “erratic” behaviour may be partly due to the drug and may have caused him to hallucinate, leading him to fall from the third-story balcony of his hotel room at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires.
Police are still investigating. Page Six has reached out to the star’s reps for comment.
On Friday, Page Six exclusively reported that the star was struggling with substance abuse when he died at age 31.
“Liam was battling a very significant drug addiction and his treatment, as those who knew him will attest, was not working,” an industry insider told the outlet.
Some eyewitnesses have come forward with their alleged observations of Payne’s concerning behaviour during his final hours at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel as well.
A hotel guest told the Daily Mail Friday that she saw the musician smashing his laptop after becoming infuriated by an email he saw.
“I went over, asked, ‘Are you OK?’ But he just kind of grunted. Then he said, ‘I used to be in a boy band. That’s why I’m so f***ed up,’” she remembered of their alleged interaction.
Another guest claimed he saw Payne in the hotel lobby arguing with an unnamed woman about money.
“I’ll give you $20,000 just because I can. I have $55 million and I like to help people,” Payne allegedly told the female, according to Michael Fleischmann, who stayed at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel on Wednesday.
Fleischmann also said the Strip That Down singer seemed “very upset, agitated, a little wild, walking around and pacing, and seemed very energised.”
Photos of Payne’s destroyed hotel room were released after his death. The images showed what appeared to be a wooden dresser covered in burn marks, white powder, pieces of tin foil and a burnt tea light candle.
There was also a smashed TV in addition to other scattered pieces of litter.
The hotel manager, identified as a man named Esteban, made an emergency call to police Wednesday night over Payne’s alarming behaviour before he fell to his death and said he feared he could potentially harm himself.
“We have a guest who is [allegedly] high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he is destroying his room and we need you to send someone, please,” he said in distressing audio obtained by Argentinian outlet La Nacion.
“We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger.”
Payne’s disturbing actions got him “kicked out” of the Palacio Duhau – Park Hyatt Buenos Aires before he booked a stay at CasaSur Palermo Hotel, according to People.
He was reportedly forced to leave the hotel because “he was being a nuisance and disturbing the other guests and appeared intoxicated.”
Payne has been memorialised as a supportive friend and talented musician by his colleagues, family and former One Direction bandmates.
Zayn Malik thanked him for supporting him through “some of the most difficult times in [his] life.”
Niall Horan remembered him as “the brightest in every room” and as someone who “always made everyone feel happy and secure.”
Louis Tomlinson, meanwhile, called him a “vital part of One Direction.”
The group formed in 2010 on the UK’s X Factor, after which the boys skyrocketed to fame.
It was during that time that Payne began abusing drugs and alcohol.
This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Police say Liam Payne was taking ‘potent’ drug that caused hallucinations when he died
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