A hotel worker accused of delivering drugs to Liam Payne shortly before the singer’s death in Buenos Aires has surrendered to Argentinian authorities after evading arrest.
Prosecutors confirmed that 21-year-old Ezequiel David Pereyra voluntarily turned himself in through his lawyer on Monday evening. Police arrested him at his residence shortly afterward.
Pereyra, who had been on the run since being charged with supplying narcotics to Payne, has not yet entered a plea or made any public statements regarding the allegations.
According to the Argentinian newspaper La Nación, Pereyra chose to surrender after police raided his home in the outskirts of Buenos Aires on Friday, January 3. Authorities had also been monitoring a workplace and several other addresses linked to him, intensifying the pressure that led to his surrender.
Footage obtained by TMZ shows Payne entering the basement of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, where Pereyra, working as a bellboy, is seen shaking hands with the singer in what appeared to be a friendly interaction.
The encounter occurred just three hours before Payne tragically fell to his death from the third-floor balcony of his hotel suite. Reports suggest the fall was connected to the effects of drugs Payne had consumed.
