Police: We have the Toronto mayor drugs video
Toronto mayor Rob Ford tells media to leave his property
Toronto
police say they have recovered a mobile-phone video which has been the
public centrepiece of a drugs scandal surrounding mayor Rob Ford.
The saga has captivated the city since reports surfaced in
May of the existence of the video, which appeared to show the mayor
smoking a crack pipe.The video, first brought to light by journalists who reported seeing it, has never been released publicly.
Mr Ford had insisted it never existed and that he did not use crack cocaine.
"There is nothing on that video that would support the laying of criminal charges," Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair told media Thursday, of the video they recovered from a computer hard drive.
The contents of the video, he said, were consistent with previous media descriptions.
In May the Toronto Star newspaper said it had been approached by drug dealers trying to sell the video; though two of its reporters viewed the video, the organisation declined to pay for it.
A Gawker journalist also reported seeing the video and the organisation raised more than $200,000 in an online campaign to buy it, before being told by a source the video was "gone."
A photo depicting Mr Ford with two young men, which Gawker said they were given by the drug dealer selling the video, became notorious when it emerged one of the men, Anthony Smith, had been shot dead on a Toronto street. Two men are facing murder charges in that case.
Driver charged Still, reports of the mystery video's existence triggered a massive police investigation into the mayor and his associates, specifically a friend and occasional driver named Alexander "Sandro" Lisi.
Alexander Lisi, shown leaving court earlier this month, is a friend and occasional driver for Mr Ford
Documents released Thursday also reveal a lengthy police surveillance operation against Mr Ford, with officers going through his rubbish and monitoring late-night meetings between Mr Ford and Mr Lisi.
The documents were released by court order Thursday after petitioning by leading Canadian media outlets.
Several of Mr Ford's aides have resigned and his chief of staff was sacked in recent months. Some were interviewed by police in the case.
But no charges have been laid against Mr Ford, who has maintained his innocence and refused to step down.
Divisive figure The case has riveted the city and its suburbs of just under six million people, Canada's largest. Mr Ford and his brother Doug, also a city councillor, have become divisive figures.
Mr Ford was elected in 2010 on a tough economic platform in which he promised to rein in spending and end the influence of special-interest groups. His term in office has been plagued with allegations of substance abuse and regular confrontations with media, whom he accuses of organising a witch-hunt. He also narrowly escaped being removed from office in a conflict of interest case.
But he has drawn public sympathy with his folksy image and a very public battle with his weight.
Before Thursday's revelations, Mr Ford had pledged to run for re-election next year. He refused to comment to reporters at his home early on Thursday.
