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TORONTO – The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have made two arrests connected to the murder of Anthony Smith, who is tied to Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s crack cocaine video saga.
The Canadian cops arrested Hanad Mohamed, 23, of Toronto, who has been charged with first-degree murder in the March 28 shooting of Smith outside a downtown Toronto nightclub, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Thursday.
The RCMP have also charged a second man, Nisar Hashimi, 23, with first-degree murder in the killing of Smith.
An image of Smith, 21, appeared in a photo of Rob Ford in the original May 16 Gawker post that broke the mayor’s crack cocaine video scandal wide open.
Ford is depicted arm-in-arm with Smith and a second man, Muhammad Khattak, 19, who was also shot and injured on March 28.
STORY: Murder Now Part of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford’s Crack Cocaine Video Scandal
A photo of Ford, Smith and Khattak was given to Gawker by the unknown owner of a video that allegedly depicts the Toronto mayor inhaling from a crack cocaine pipe.
Gawker and two reporters from the Toronto Star claim to have viewed the video.
The gossip website has raised just over $200,000 to acquire and publish the Ford video, but claims to have lost contact with the owner of the smartphone footage in question.
The Globe and Mail points to unnamed sources that insist RCMP detectives have a search warrant for Mohamed’s smartphone.
As Ford continues to duck questioning at City Hall related to the drug video he denies exists, the smartphone from which the video was made has become a MacGuffin in the unfolding political drama at Toronto City Hall.
Friends and foes of the mayor agree that finding and publishing the video is required before the escalating political scandal can be resolved.
The Toronto Star on Thursday also reported that Ford apparently told key aides in the wake of the Gawker revelation that he knew where the crack video in question could be found.
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