Police documents released Thursday show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was being set up for blackmail due to his drug habits and acquaintances with one of the biggest drug dealing gangs in Toronto, the Toronto Star reported.
Over months of wiretaps and investigations, Toronto police revealed an extortion scheme against Ford consisting of videos and photographs of the mayor in situations bad enough to be used against him, according to the Star. The documents released Thursday by Justice Ian Nordheimer have not yet been tested in court.
The documents show a wiretap of a conversation between Ford and a gang member where the mayor offers $5,000 and a car in exchange for the footage, which the dealer rejected, according to the Star. Further analysis shows the same gang member planned on asking Ford for $150,000 instead in exchange for the video.
The video in question shows Ford smoking crack and making homophobic and racist remarks. The documents do not specify whether a deal actually went through and if Ford ever got a copy of the video, but a copy was found on a laptop hard drive taken after the gang members were arrested, according to the Star.
The documents also show many more phone conversations between the gang members, Ford and his driver and friend Alexander Lisi, the Star reported. One of the conversations reveals a gang member telling Lisi they "love" Mayor Ford but they have him videotaped in "a lot of f---ed up situations."
The documents show the mayor was involved with not only crack, but heroin, cocaine and marijuana, as well.
In one recorded conversation, a man is heard saying to another: "Rob Ford wants some drugs," and another reveals a man saying "the mayor of the city Rob Ford was smoking his rocks today," according to the Star.
The gang being tapped are called the Dixon Bloods, a violent drug and guns gang located in Etobicoke Park, an area filled with project condominiums, the Sun reported. Several of the gang members were arrested in June in an operation called Project Traveller when Ford's connection with the gang was found out.
Recorded conversations show that in April, Ford was at a party at 15 Windsor Rd., a notorious crack house, partying with the gang members when his cell phone was stolen. Recorded conversations show Lisi telling gang members that Ford would bring "heat" on the community if the cellphone was not returned, according to the Star.
This information is what led to the search warrant leading to the arrest of Ford's friend and driver Lisi on Oct. 2, according to the Star. Lisi is currently facing drug-trafficking charges and extortion due to the threats of the said phone call, and for exchanging marijuana in return for Ford's phone, which was returned.
The documents show no wiretaps on Lisi and Ford, though the Toronto police have been able to pick and choose which wiretaps to include in the Lisi search warrant document, the Star reported.
