TORONTO -- Toronto police aren't commenting on a report that they are investigating attempts by associates of Mayor Rob Ford to obtain an alleged video purportedly showing him smoking crack cocaine.
The mayor hasn't commented either, however, his brother, city councillor Doug Ford, has denounced the Toronto Star report as "just another attack" by the newspaper.
He also told an AM640 radio talk show Saturday that people are fed up with what he called "this tabloid garbage."
The Star is reporting that two members of the mayor's entourage were beating the bushes in the days after media reports surfaced that some journalists had viewed the alleged video.
The newspaper quotes a witness as saying an occasional driver and security guard for the mayor, Alexander "Sandro" Lisi, visited a group of known drug dealers and asked about the whereabouts of the people who made the alleged video.
Lisi's lawyer has confirmed his client is involved in a police investigation but would not give specifics.
The Star story says the mayor's logistics director, David Price, was making phone calls inquiring about the video's whereabouts, but doesn't attribute the information.
Days after the story broke, Ford said he didn't use cocaine, and couldn't comment on a video he hadn't seen or that didn't exist.
The Star has previously reported that the mayor is said to have told close confidants that he knew where the video was and provided two addresses.
Earlier this year, police launched a series of raids targeting gangs and one of the addresses raided was a Toronto apartment complex where the alleged video was reported to be located.
Police have refused to say if Ford was in any way part of the investigation.
The video has never surfaced despite a crowdsourcing attempt by online gossip site Gawker to raise $200,000 to buy it.
