TORONTO, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Toronto police have arrested two suspected drug dealers as part of an investigation into embattled Mayor Rob Ford's activities and associates, officials said.
Police said the two were arrested in October and charged with trafficking marijuana and possessing money obtained from the commission of a crime, the Toronto Star reported Wednesday.
Ford, who has admitted to buying illegal drugs, using crack cocaine and binge drinking, was stripped of many of his powers Monday at a raucous City Council meeting during which he knocked down a council member. The council voted to cut his office budget by 60 percent and allow mayoral staff to join the deputy mayor.
The men -- Barbudan Dima, 37 and Andrei Dascaluta, 34 -- were charged more than one month after they allegedly sold marijuana to an undercover officer trying to infiltrate a possible drug-dealing operation based out of a plaza reportedly visited frequently by Ford.
The Star said information it published about activities at the mall were based on police documents and had not been proved or disproved in court.
The plaza had been visited by Ford and his friend and occasional driver Alexander Lisi, the report said. Police documents indicated Lisi was observed walking into a dry cleaning establishment empty-handed exiting several minutes later carrying a pizza box.
