AUSTIN, TEXAS—Mayor Rob Ford refused on his official trip to Texas to answer questions about the nature of his relationship with a friend arrested Tuesday on drug charges, insisting on talking only about transit and the music industry he came here to promote.

Ford did not stop for Toronto reporters waiting at his hotel on Thursday morning. His spokesman three times interrupted a reporter who tried to ask him whether he had ever bought drugs from the friend, Alexander “Sandro” Lisi. Ford did not respond.

Asked if he truly had no idea about Lisi’s criminal record, Ford said, “I’ve addressed that. Any other questions?”

The questions follow Lisi’s arrest in what a Toronto police news release from Det. Sgt. Gary Giroux has called “an ongoing criminal investigation.”

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As reported by the Star in August, a special squad of Toronto police detectives has been investigating Ford for some time. The probe, which has included surveillance from the air, led to the arrest Tuesday of two men on drug trafficking charges: Lisi, Ford’s friend and occasional driver, and Jamshid Bahrami, owner of an Etobicoke dry cleaning store.

The squad is led by homicide detective Giroux and has other top investigators, including detectives Amy Daveys, David Lavallee and Joyce Shertzer.

The investigation is a spinoff from the Project Traveller probe that led to massive arrests on gun and gang charges in June.

According to a court document dated Thursday, the legal process has begun to unseal information used to obtain the warrant to search Lisi’s home and Bahrami’s place of business. Information in this document may shed light on the police investigation.

The unusual step of air surveillance, using a Cessna contracted to the Toronto police, was employed to follow Ford and other people in Etobicoke.

One person with a connection to Ford said he noticed the plane following him and said it flew low and was noisy. The airplane was last seen in the air Aug. 15, two days before the Star published a story revealing that police were investigating Lisi.

“It was the strangest thing. I would leave my driveway and start heading somewhere, maybe north, maybe south and I would hear the plane and look up and see it following,” said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Details of the police probe have been unearthed by the Star over the past few months and come from people interviewed by the detectives, lawyers representing clients with involvement in the probe, and from documents viewed or obtained by the Star.

Domenic Basile, Lisi’s lawyer, has previously confirmed to the Star that he was aware his client was being investigated for attempts to retrieve the “crack cocaine” video.

That video, viewed by the Star and Gawker, shows Ford smoking what appears to be crack cocaine, slurring his words and looking impaired, as well as making racially charged and homophobic statements. Ford has refused to comment on a video he says does not exist.

Detectives on the special squad have been looking into allegations of drug use and connections between Ford, the people involved in making the video, and other people in Etobicoke, including Lisi, who has told three associates interviewed by the Star that he is a supplier of drugs to Ford. The Star has been unable to verify Lisi’s claims, and Ford has not responded to questions about this.

Carol Peck, 75, a neighbour of Lisi, has said she frequently witnessed Ford arrive at Lisi’s home and then call him on his cellphone. She then watched as Lisi emerged from his basement apartment and met briefly with Ford in or outside the mayor’s black Escalade. This happened four times a week on average, she said.

Detectives from the special squad have also interviewed at least two men arrested in Project Traveller and interviewed people involved in a boozy St. Patrick’s Day 2012 incident involving Ford at the Bier Markt in Toronto.

Lisi and the owner of an Etobicoke dry cleaning store, Jamshid Bahrami, were arrested Tuesday evening and charged with drug offences. Bahrami was charged with cocaine possession and marihuana trafficking; Lisi was charged with marihuana trafficking, possession of the proceeds of crime and conspiracy to traffic drugs.

Ford has publicly lauded Lisi — who has a record of violence toward women — for being a “good guy.” Lisi’s Range Rover is frequently seen in Ford’s neighbourhood.

As the Star reported in August, the newspaper has determined that police have been seeking information about the embarrassing video and are probing other activities of the mayor.

Toronto police spokesman Mark Pugash has steadfastly refused to answer questions about the Star’s findings.

Lisi, driving his black Range Rover, ran interference for Ford on May 17 when news of the crack cocaine video broke, doing his best with other Ford friends to keep reporters at bay.

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On Wednesday, when Lisi was released on bail, a storm of media descended and Lisi, with nobody running interference, had to fend off reporters on his own.

After a ceremony Thursday on Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s official balcony, Ford’s spokesman, Amin Massoudi, tried to prevent a reporter from asking about Lisi, suggesting that another reporter ask a question instead.

Ford remained silent when asked why Torontonians should not be concerned that people with whom he has been associated have been arrested and others shot. Ford also remained silent when asked if he has purchased drugs from Lisi.

Ford met for lunch with Leffingwell. He made a brief and upbeat speech to the seven-member city council in the evening, thanking members for their hospitality, praising Austin, and trading jokes with Leffingwell about his preference for a smaller council in Toronto.

“I love the size of your council,” he said with gusto.

Austin leaders are well aware of the controversies swirling around Ford, said Mike Martinez, a councillor who also lunched with Ford. But Martinez and Leffingwell said they had no qualms about honouring him.

“That’s really not my business. Our business is to promote this Music Alliance with the City of Toronto,” Leffingwell said.

He called Ford “a fun guy” and “a great sport,” and he said the mayor is clearly committed to economic development.

Martinez called Ford “hilarious” and a “straight shooter.” He said they discussed music business, waste collection, transportation, and no-kill animal shelters. Informed of Ford’s staunch opposition to urban surface rail, Leffingwell, a surface rail booster, said, “We did not discuss it; that’s probably a good thing.”

Ford promoted Toronto in a longer speech on the balcony, saying it was “vibrant, beautiful,” and “one of the most economic and culturally diverse cities in North America.”

As he has done repeatedly in recent months in Toronto, he boasted of the decline in the unemployment rate during his tenure — again claiming, incorrectly, that the rate was about 11 per cent when he took office.

“Under my administration, Toronto has become a magnet, a magnet for business and investment,” Ford said.

He signed a document inaugurating the formal music-related partnership between the two cultural capitals and was made an honorary Austin citizen.

Ford presented Leffingwell with a photo of Toronto’s city hall and a toy football with the city logo, then attempted, at Leffingwell’s prodding, to explain why the Blue Jays are so bad. (He cited injuries.)

On Friday, Ford will tour a Google facility and the Texas Advanced Computing Center, then attend the renowned Austin City Limits music festival.

The trip apparently has gone mostly unnoticed in Austin. A reporter from the Austin Business Journal appeared to be the only media representative present.