Liam Payne's Death Leads To Arrest Of His 'Friend' And Two Others As Investigation Continues

Three individuals have reportedly been arrested in connection to singer Liam Payne's death in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

According to reports, the suspects were charged with abandonment of a person, followed by death, and the supply and facilitation of drugs.

Liam Payne's toxicology reports had previously revealed that the former One Direction star had "pink cocaine" and other drugs in his system at the time of his death.

Rolling Stone reports that three people have been arrested and charged as part of an investigation into Payne's shocking death.

On October 16, the singer was confirmed to have died after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

One of the people, who appears to be Payne's friend, has reportedly been charged with abandonment of a person followed by death.

The other suspects, a hotel staffer and an alleged drug supplier, have also been charged with the supply and facilitation of narcotics.

Argentina's National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor's Office announced the charges in a November 7 press release.

Local media reported that the first person charged was Payne's friend, a businessman, who claimed to be the singer's manager in Argentina, even though he wasn't. The friend allegedly also failed to report Payne's drug problems to his family,

According to La Nación, investigators made attempts to contact the friend on the day the singer died; however, he did not show up and later spoke to the police through his lawyer.

The prosecutor's office claims that in order to file the charges against the three individuals in the case, they reviewed dozens of interviews and 800 hours of video.

The local authorities also conducted nine raids and confiscated a jar of marijuana, three computers, two hard drives, and nine cell phones.

Argentinian police immediately launched an investigation to determine the circumstances surrounding Payne's passing after his fall.

The investigation led to a new raid on the home of two employees who worked at the hotel where the singer plunged to his death.

According to TMZ, the "Strip That Down" singer had stayed at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires and was allegedly contacted by these suspected workers before the fatal incident.

In addition to raiding the homes of the hotel employees, authorities also searched the home of Payne's businessman friend.

The Daily Mailreported that preliminary results from tests carried out on the singer's remains revealed traces of cocaine, benzodiazepine, crack cocaine, and "pink cocaine," which is a mixture of methamphetamine, MDMA, and ketamine.

The drugs allegedly triggered a breakdown in Payne prior to him falling from his third-floor hotel room balcony on October 16.

The tests also confirmed that Payne died instantly from the various injuries he suffered, including a fractured skull, after falling 45ft from the third floor of the hotel he was staying in.

With the completion of toxicology tests on Payne's remains, his body has now been flown back to the UK after being released to his father, Geoff Payne, who has been in Argentina since his son's death.

According to a source, Payne's drug use was unexpected, as the singer had been "clean for weeks" before his Argentina trip.

"He had been to rehab more than once," said the close pal, per the Daily Mail. "He had had treatment in the UK and in California, and he had recently been taken on by a new psychiatrist in Florida. Everyone around Liam hoped that he was on the path to recovery."

The insider also claimed that the people who supplied Payne with drugs "preyed" on him for money.

They noted, "Liam was 100 percent sober. But when he checked in at the hotel, at some point, someone there started giving him drugs."

The friend added, "Liam had tried really hard to get clean, then they preyed on him. These people only care about money. They didn't care about his health."