'Cocaine removed from Houston's room'

Whitney Houston's drug dealer removed all traces of cocaine from her hotel room in the minutes after she died, it has been claimed.

The 48-year-old singer had cocaine in her system when she drowned in a hotel bath, according to the toxicology report released by the Los Angeles coroner’s office. It said that she slipped into the water when she suffered a heart attack caused in part by years of cocaine abuse.

Celebrity website TMZ claimed that there had been a cover-up by someone extremely close to the star. The coroner’s office said Houston had taken cocaine “immediately prior to her collapse”, yet there was no trace of the drug when detectives searched her Beverly Hilton room following her death on February 11.

An unnamed source told TMZ that the person who removed the cocaine also supplied it. Other items were allegedly removed, including sheets.

Traces of marijuana, anti-anxiety drug Xanax, muscle relaxant Flexeril and an allergy medicine were also in Houston’s system.