Liam Payne was reportedly under the influence of a potent drug that can cause hallucinations when he plunged to his death from an Argentina hotel room balcony Wednesday night, according to police.
The former One Direction star was high on a dangerous substance dubbed “Cristal,” which “causes users to experience extreme highs and extreme lows, often making them aggressive,” Buenos Aires cops told TMZ Friday.
The drug could be behind the 31-year-old former boy bander’s “erratic” behavior before his death.
It also could have caused an episode of hallucination that played a part in his fatal fall from the third-floor balcony of his room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, authorities told the outlet.
Photos from inside Payne’s hotel suite show a chaotic scene. Trashed rooms, champagne bottles, a smashed television and a mess of drug paraphernalia, including powders and tinfoil.
The images reveal a Dove soap packet, an empty glass and the remains of a burned candle and the scorched top of a drink can on a desk — along with traces of a white powder that authorities will test to confirm suspicions it could be cocaine, La Nacion reported.
Investigators also found wax and burned foil in the suite’s bathtub.
Liam jumped from the third-floor balcony of that suite, according to police. They believe that he may have been hallucinating as a result of ingesting “cristal”, though an investigation and autopsy are both ongoing.
Sources say Payne’s body was found on the ground floor with “a bottle of whiskey, a lighter and a cellphone.”
Medics said Payne’s injuries were “incompatible with life” – first responders described a “cranial fracture” that led to “immediate death”.
Payne had gone to rehab twice previously and had commented on how addiction made him suicidal.
“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it,” Payne said during a 2021 appearance on the “The Diary of a CEO” podcast.
Payne was allegedly telling people that he was sober in the months before his death, a source with direct knowledge told TMZ.
He rose to fame when he auditioned for “The X Factor” in 2010 when he was 16. He then joined the popular boy band One Direction which broke up in 2015.
Payne leaves behind a son, Bear, 7, who he shared with ex Chery Cole.
