Liam Payne was taking powerful hallucinogenic drugs when he fell to his death in an Argentina hotel: report

Police say Liam Payne was reportedly under the influence of a powerful drug that can cause hallucinations when he fell to his death from the balcony of an Argentine hotel room on Wednesday evening.

The former One Direction star used a dangerous substance called “Cristal” that “causes users extreme highs and lows, often making them aggressive,” Buenos Aires police officers told TMZ on Friday.

The drug could be behind the 31-year-old former boy bander’s “erratic” behavior before his death.

It may also have triggered an episode of hallucination that played a role in his fatal fall from the third-floor balcony of his room at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel, authorities told the outlet.

Photos from Payne’s hotel suite after his death show a chaotic scene. Destroyed rooms, bottles of champagne, a broken television and a pile of drug paraphernalia including powder and aluminum foil.

The images also show a Dove soap package, an empty glass, the remains of a burnt candle and the burnt lid of a soda can on a desk – along with traces of a white powder that authorities will test to confirm whether it could be cocaine . reported La Nacion, Argentina’s largest newspaper, which confirmed the alarming photos.

Investigators also found wax and burnt foil in the suite’s bathtub.

Payne’s body was found downstairs along with “a bottle of whiskey, a lighter and a cell phone,” sources told the outlet.

Medics said Payne’s injuries were “incompatible with life” – first responders described a “skull fracture” that resulted in “instant death,” according to La Nacion.

Payne had already gone to rehab twice – when he was a member of One Direction and after the group’s split – and had commented on how the addiction made him suicidal.

“I was worried about how far down I would go. Where is the low point for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. Nobody would have ever seen it,” Payne said during an appearance on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast in 2021.

He allegedly told people that he had been 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 at the age of 16. He then joined the popular boy band One Direction, which disbanded in 2015.

Payne leaves behind a son, Bear, 7, whom he shared with his ex, Cheryl Cole.