Rob Ford Saga Continues: Police Launch Massive Raid & Eavesdropped Crack Video Calls

Toronto mayor Rob Ford continues to be linked to the illegal drug trade and related police investigations. This time police have launched a series of early morning raids across Ontario, including one at the apartment tower associated with the alleged video of the Toronto mayor smoking crack with local drug dealers.  The massive operation targeted gang-related gun trafficking, homicide and attempted murder activities. Forty three people were nabbed in Toronto and Windsor, Ontario, landing millions in cash and drugs plus forty firearms.

Asked about the raids by reporters, Ford said “my cable was out, I know as much as you guys know.” While such a large police undertaking usually includes informing the mayor, Ford admitted “the chief has not talked to me,” adding that if he is under investigation “they can investigate me all they want. I don’t do anything wrong.” According to The National Post, residents at notorious raid site 320 Dixon Road told reporters officers told them they were there because of Rob Ford.

In a noon time press conference, chief Bill Blair said Ford wasn’t informed because such information is only shared on a “need to know” basis. Notably, Blair refused to state the mayor was not being investigated, only saying “all of the evidence will come out in court, where in belongs.”

In another twist in the ongoing saga, CTV News reports police had been investigating the crack video for several weeks before US blog site Gawker and The Toronto Star broke the news. According to the report, police obtained wiretaps of persons of interest discussing the video and the mayor’s alleged presence in the footage. Meanwhile, CBC News reports police investigators were aware of an ongoing relationship between the beleaguered mayor and the alleged  drug dealers shown together in a widely publicized photo.