The video allegedly showing Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack never turned up, but another mystery has apparently been solved.
The Toronto Star reported Tuesday that it had identified the man who showed reporters the cellphone video in the backseat of a car in Etobicoke: 27-year-old Mohamed Siad, who was arrested in June as part of a massive sting operation by Toronto police aimed at gun and drug trafficking.
The police bust, dubbed Project Traveller, led to the arrest of 43 suspects, many from the Dixon Rd. apartments where the crack video was said to be stored. The Toronto Sun reported Friday that Siad tried to use the crack video as a bargaining chip in securing a plea deal, but the prosecution didn?t bite.
According to the Sun?s sources, the prosecution felt it couldn?t prove that Ford was smoking crack in the video without a witness to the act.
Siad remains in prison and was repeatedly stabbed while behind bars shortly after his arrest, allegedly because others arrested as part of Project Traveller resented the extra scrutiny the crack scandal brought to the drug activity at Dixon Rd.
The Star says it has met ?a wall of silence? from prosecutors and Siad?s lawyer during its investigation of the man.
Two reporters for the Toronto Star and the editor of Gawker were shown the alleged video in May, but the journalists only knew a middleman?s identity. The man in possession of the video, who also claimed to have sold drugs to the mayor, remained unknown until now.
The video in question allegedly showed the Toronto mayor inhaling from a glass pipe and making homophobic and racist remarks. The owner of the video, now alleged to be Siad, wanted to sell the video for a ?six-figure? sum in order to move to Alberta and start a new life for himself.
However, before either the Star or Gawker could secure the money, word got out that this explosive footage existed and Gawker published its first bombshell shortly before midnight on May 16. The Toronto Star soon followed with its own report, setting off a two-months-long media circus that only recently died down.
There have been numerous Rob Ford videos related to the crack video, but never the real deal. It?s unknown whether the footage still exists and the mayor has never admitted to either the use of crack cocaine or the existence of said video.
Source: http://o.canada.com/2013/08/02/mohamed-siad-rob-ford-crack-video/
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