'Netflix worthy': Six arrested, look out for three in what is being called Canada's biggest-ever gold heist
arrested and three more arrest warrants have been issued for suspects in a gold heist at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport's cargo facility in April 2023, AFP reported. Termed as "the greatest gold heist in Canadian history" by officials, little of the stolen 6,600 gold bars worth Can$20 million ($15 million) has been recovered, it added. Further, Can$ 2.5 million in foreign banknotes was also stolen in the same heist.
“This story is a sensational one and one which, probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series," Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said, as per Bloomberg. Among the suspects are two former Air Canada airport employees and a jewellery store owner - making this an "inside job", officials said. One of the accused ex-employees had at the time also given police a tour of the shipment area.
The suspects have been identified by police as men from the Toronto region, all between 25 to 54 years of age. The getaway driver also has a case against him in the United States for possession of 65 illegal firearms, as per a US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms official, the AFP report added. Speaking to reporters in Brampton, Duraiappah said this was an inside job "carefully planned by a well-organized group of criminals." Peel Police have seized Can$430,000, which they think came from the sale of some of the gold, and six crudely made gold bracelets worth an estimated Can$89,000.
Search for the rest of the gold is still ongoing. A Swiss bank hired Brink's Co. to transport the valuables from Zurich, Switzerland to Toronto, who in turn arranged for Air Canada to fly the valuables into the country.
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