BRAMPTON — A Toronto criminal lawyer was led off in handcuffs this morning after Peel Regional Police arrested her at the Brampton courthouse in connection with a drug smuggling investigation.

Laura Liscio, 32, of Toronto has been charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession for the purpose of trafficking, obstructing justice and breach of trust, Peel Regional Police confirmed this evening. She will be back in court March 12.

Liscio's practice is located in Toronto, according to the Law Society of Upper Canada's lawyer directory.

Police sources say the arrest was made at the Hurontario Street courthouse after a Peel officer found a quantity of drugs hidden in items being given to an inmate who was scheduled to appear before a Superior court judge.

Police Friday refuted witness accounts that Liscio was handcuffed and escorted out of the courthouse while still dressed in her courthouse attire.

"At no time was the accused handcuffed while in her court attire," police said in her release.

Police say they witnessed an "interaction" involving Liscio in a courtroom that was not in session. After an investigation, Liscio was arrested, and allowed to remove her black gown (a requirement for all lawyers appearing on matters in Superior court) to change into civilian clothing. She was then handcuffed and put into an unmarked police car by plainclothes officers.

Well-placed sources say Liscio was at court representing 19-year-old Jahrell Lungs, who was appearing in front of Justice Casey Hill today on a number of firearms offences.

Liscio is a regular at the Brampton courthouse and has worked on a number of high profile cases in Peel, including a 2010 shooting in Cooksville that led to a Mississauga man sustaining life-threatening injuries. Liscio represented the shooter, Nepaul McMorris, who was charged with attempted murder but found guilty of lesser charges and sentenced to nine years in jail.

Lungs was arrested two years ago by Peel Police after a search warrant in Brampton yielded a loaded .357 magnum.