Juice Wrld was given an opioid antidote before he died, authorities have said, after going into convulsions during a drugs and weapons search at Midway international airport in Chicago.
The 21-year-old rapper, born Jarad Higgins, was one of around a dozen people who landed at approximately 2am on Sunday 8 December.
Federal agents and city police officers, acting on a tip-off that a private plane arriving from LA to Midway was carrying drugs and guns, were waiting, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
During a search in a private hangar, a drug-sniffing dog apparently made a “positive alert” on luggage carts that were loaded with bags from the plane.
Upon inspection, officers found multiple bags of suspected marijuana, prescription cough syrup, three guns, metal-piercing bullets and a high-capacity ammunition magazine.
At some point during the search, Higgins suffered a seizure and was administered Narcan after his girlfriend said he had been taking Percocet, an opioid painkiller.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Higgins woke up but remained incoherent, and was rushed to Advocate Christ medical centre in Oak Lawn. He was pronounced dead at around 3.15am the same day.
Toxicology test results from an autopsy are still pending, the medical examiner’s office said. Higgins’ death is not suspected to be the result of foul play.
Detectives are conducting a forensic analysis to determine which bags belonged to which passengers. None of the people on the plane have admitted to carrying the drugs. Two security guards on the plane were arrested on misdemeanour gun charges.
Higgins’ death sparked an outpouring of grief in the music world, and prompted tributes from fellow artists including Drake, Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, producer Zedd, and Meek Mill.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
