BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentine police conducted a raid on the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday following the death of former One Direction star Liam Payne, who tragically fell from a third-floor balcony, according to a police source.
Officers from the special investigations and technology divisions were dispatched by the prosecutor’s office to “seize elements of interest for the investigation,” the police source told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Television footage showed agents working on computers at the hotel’s front desk.
The 31-year-old British pop singer was found dead after hotel staff had called emergency services twice, reporting that a guest was “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” and had been “destroying” a room.
Payne had previously spoken openly about his struggles with substance abuse and the pressures of early fame.
The hotel raid followed a meeting between Argentine prosecutors and Payne’s father, Geoff Payne, on Tuesday, during which prosecutors assured him that toxicology results had not yet been released by the office.
US media outlets, including ABC and TMZ, reported earlier in the week that Payne had a mixture of drugs in his system when he died, including “pink cocaine,” a combination of methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA, citing anonymous sources familiar with the preliminary findings of a partial autopsy.
The Argentine prosecutor’s office, however, denied releasing any official toxicology reports, stating that the results remain confidential within the investigation.
Toxicology results are expected to be concluded this week, according to an official from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Investigators are currently examining phones, computers, security camera footage, and taking witness testimonies to piece together Payne’s final hours.
A post-mortem examination revealed that the singer was alone at the time of the fall and had been experiencing an episode of substance abuse, prosecutors confirmed.
Payne, who rose to fame as part of the globally successful band One Direction, had achieved solo success after the group went on hiatus in 2016.