Actor Sylvester Stallone’s son Sage was a drug dealer — not an addict, cops now believe.

Despite rumours of an overdose, detectives reckon the podgy 36-year-old was too fat to be a user.

Instead they say it was a "likely scenario" that he was flogging powerful painkiller Vicodin.

The overweight filmmaker was found dead at his Hollywood home last Friday surrounded by 60 empty prescription pill bottles.

It is believed they were big enough to hold a staggering 30,000 pills.

Insiders have also revealed 5ft 7in Sage weighed a hefty 188 pounds when he died — and was not thin like most addicts.

A source said: "He was pudgy, and drug addicts are almost always rail-thin."

The troubled actor is said to have sought solace in prescription drugs and junk food to cope with the pressure of living up to his superstar dad.

But yesterday close pal Stephen Wozniak insisted the Rocky V star would not have taken his own life.

He said: "It was absolutely not suicide.

"I’m certain that this really horrible thing that happened was an accident.

"It could have been anything — but nothing like suicide. I knew him pretty well."

Sage’s body was discovered surrounded by cigarette butts and beer cans by a housekeeper.

No Vicodin tablets were found — but several bags of white powder were recovered from his bedroom.

It has been suggested he lay there several days before his body was found.

His devastated dad Sly (66) has hired top private investigator Scott Ross, who led a probe into the Michael Jackson sex case, to look into his son’s death.

The Rocky star said in a statement: "When a parent loses a child there is no greater pain... This agonising loss will be felt for the rest of our lives.

"Sage was our first child and the centre of our universe."

Toxicology results are expected within four to six weeks.