Toronto Pearson gold heist: Multiple people charged in historic $20M theft
Multiple people have been arrested in connection with the largest gold heist in Canadian history at Toronto Pearson airport last year, Peel Regional Police say.
The 2023 heist, which made international headlines at the time, involved 6,600 gold bars valued at over $20 million stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport, Det. Sgt. Mike Mavity told reporters on Wednesday. Cash valued at $2.5 million was also taken.
The gold and currency was ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, Mavity said, and then transported in a container through an Air Canada flight that landed in Toronto.
That flight landed exactly one year ago on April 17, 2023 at 3:56 p.m. The cargo was then offloaded from the plane to an Air Canada cargo facility at 6:32 p.m.
Mavity alleged the suspect arrived at the facility with a “fraudulent airway bill” and gave it to an attendant.
“The airway bill is for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before,” Mavity said.
“This duplicate airway bill was printed off from a printer with an Air Canada cargo.”
He said a short time later, a forklift arrived with a container of gold and foreign currency; that was loaded into the rear of the suspect’s truck, who then drove off with the goods.
At around 9:30 p.m., Brink’s Canada employees went to the Air Canada cargo site to pick up the shipment of gold and currency. Police were contacted the following day and an investigation launched, he said. Brink’s has filed a lawsuit against Air Canada over the stolen cargo.
Video surveillance obtained by officers showed the truck drove west into Halton Region to north of Milton; that region is more rural, and eventually the truck was lost, Mavity said.
Thirty-seven search warrants were issued
Read more on globalnews.ca
