What is pink cocaine? Drug 'found in Liam Payne's body' during autopsy after shock death

Unlike traditional cocaine, pink cocaine can cause users to have psychedelic and hallucinogenic experiences - including an altered sense of reality, panic and paranoia

Forensic experts found traces of cocaine in Liam Payne’s body after the former One Direction singer was tragically found dead at his hotel in Argentina last week.

Materials extracted from the star's body in an autopsy following his death on Wednesday had “determined the presence of the class-A drug”, according to respected news portal Infobae. ABC News claimed that among those substances was "pink cocaine", which contains a lethal mixture of drugs including MDMA, ketamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack.

Liam sadly died after falling from a third floor hotel room in Buenos Aires and suffering “severe injuries which were incompatible with life”. City ambulance spokesman Alberto Crescenti said the singer had fallen around 45 feet before his body was found in an internal patio of the hotel. The singer leaves behind a seven-year-old son, Bear, whom he shares with ex-partner and pop star Cheryl, and four devastated former bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.

Pink cocaine has gained popularity across Latin America’s party scene as a hallucinogenic drug that can create an altered sense of reality. It contains a mixture of synthetic substances, including MDMA (ecstasy), ketamine, and amphetamines, while some variations contain LSD, mescaline, and opioids like fentanyl.

The drug, locally referred to as “tusi” or “tuci”, is believed to have originated in Colombia before becoming popular in clubs and raves. Due to its highly variable and often unregulated chemical composition, users can be faced with significant, and potentially deadly side effects, including euphoria, increased alertness and enhanced sensory perception.

All of these can quickly give way to negative experiences such as anxiety, paranoia, panic, and hallucinations, according to UK Addiction Treatment Centres. Due to its highly variable and often unregulated chemical composition, users can be faced with significant, and potentially deadly side effects.

Pink cocaine is unlike traditional cocaine when it comes to chemical structure. While regular cocaine is a naturally occurring alkaloid, pink cocaine is dubbed a “designer drug” containing phenylethylamine derivatives, which brings about the hallucinogenic effect.

Police in Argentina have since carried out tests on a white powder found in Liam's hotel room, but this has so far proved “inconclusive". The force reported the result of a second test using chromatography - a powerful analytical separation technique - on the powder was pending.

Liam’s dad Geoff, who travelled to Argentina last week, is understood to have been told by authorities that the singer will not be able to be flown back to the UK until his death is confirmed “scientifically.”