TORONTO

Homicide detectives may be closing in on the alleged crack-smoking video that the city’s mayor has said “does not exist.”

Toronto Police confirmed a staff member from Rob Ford’s office has come forward with a tip about the location of the alleged video that has been talked about in the media for over a week.

Two reporters from the Toronto Star and one from the U.S. gossip website, Gawker, claimed they’ve watched the video, which was allegedly shot with a cell phone and shows the mayor smoking something that appears to be crack cocaine.

The Sun has tried unsuccessfully to reach Staff-Insp. Greg McLane, who heads up the Homicide Unit, since last week to inquire about a possible link between the alleged video and the murder of Anthony Smith.

The Globe and Mail reported Monday that an unnamed senior staffer from Ford’s office has been interviewed by police about a tip that suggests such a link.

On Monday morning, McLane told the media his detectives are investigating the staffer’s tip about the location of the alleged video but denied the probe is linked to Smith’s killing.

He said homicide detectives are only handling the tip because they have the expertise that is needed.

Police have been tight-lipped about the possibility of any investigation into anything related to the mayor, the staffer’s tip, the alleged video or a potential link to Smith’s murder.

“Our position from the outset is that we are monitoring the situation,” police spokesman Mark Pugash said Monday.

Smith was gunned down March 28 across the street from the Lokki Lounge, a nightclub on King St. W. A second man was wounded in that shooting.

Smith can be seen in a photo of Ford that was sent to The Star and Gawker prior to their reporters being allowed to see the alleged video.

In the photo, the murder victim is holding a beer and has his arm around the mayor.

Two other men in the photo, also cuddling up to Ford, have their faces blurred. But a Toronto Sun source claimed one of them is the man who was wounded when Smith was slain.

It’s believed the Ford staff member has told police the address where the alleged video is stashed, reportedly by two Somali men — one an alleged drug dealer and the other a possible drug user.

The Sun has learned the address in question is an apartment building in Rexdale, near Kipling Ave. and Dixon Rd.

The mayor has repeatedly denied the existence of the alleged video and dismissed accusations of him smoking crack “ridiculous.”

chris.doucette@sunmedia.ca