Liam Payne was 'preyed upon' by dealers after being clean 'for weeks'

Liam Payne was "preyed on" by dealers after the 31-year-old singer had been clean "for weeks" before his death. Liam, who made a name for himself with One Direction on ITV The X Factor, was "winning" the battle against his demons in the United States, a pal has said.

He was winning the fight before he was given drugs at a Buenos Aires hotel in Argentina, a close friend has said. An initial toxicology report suggested Payne had been exposed to cocaine before his death - although did not reveal the amount in his system.

A close friend of the star revealed: "Liam had been clean for weeks. He had been to rehab more than once. 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.

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"He went to Argentina to renew his USA visa where he had to undergo medical examination because of his history with alcohol and drugs. The results of the tests were good. Liam was 100 per cent sober. But when he checked in at the hotel, at some point someone there started giving him drugs.

"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." TMZ reported that a cocktail of drugs called 'pink cocaine' – containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA – had been found during a partial autopsy, along with crack cocaine and benzodiazepine. The site quoted an anonymous source.

The full toxicology results are not expected to be made public for several weeks. The late singer’s father, Geoff Payne, was still in Buenos Aires meeting with the prosecutors and other local officials on Monday in an effort to organise the repatriation of the remains.

Argentinian authorities expect to release the body next week, clearing the way for Geoff Payne to fly home and hold a funeral back in England.