Gold heist at Toronto airport: police have identified nine suspects

One former and one current Air Canada employee are among nine suspects charged in connection with last year's gold heist at Pearson International Airport, police said.

At a news conference marking the one-year anniversary of Wednesday's heist, police confirmed that five suspects have been arrested and four others are facing charges in the largest gold heist in Canadian history.

Police said the suspects face a total of 19 charges and arrest warrants have been issued for three of the suspects who have yet to be arrested in Canada. All the suspects arrested in connection with the theft have been released on bail, police said on Wednesday.

Peel Regional Police Superintendent Nishan Durayappa said the theft was carefully planned by a “well-organized gang of criminals”.

“This story is a sensational story and, we joke, belongs in a Netflix series,” he said.

According to police, on the evening of April 17, 2023, a suspect drove a five-ton truck from an Air Canada cargo facility to a warehouse and stole 6,600 gold bars.

The gold, along with about $2.5 million in foreign currency, was shipped from Zurich to Toronto in the fuselage of an Air Canada flight and was unloaded at an Air Canada cargo facility shortly after the flight landed at Pearson Airport that afternoon.

Police believe the suspect got hold of the stolen gold and banknotes after presenting a fake airline ticket to Air Canada employees.

“The airway report is for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was received the day before,” said Det.-Sgt. Mike Maviti, principal manager of the joint investigation, known as Project 24K, told reporters Wednesday.

“This duplicate airline ticket was printed from the Air Canada cargo printer.”

Mavity said a short time later, a forklift arrived and loaded the stolen gold and currency into the back of a truck. The suspect then fled with gold bars valued at $20 million.

Brinks Canada, which was hired to provide security and logistics services for the shipment, arrived at the facility hours later to retrieve the items, police said.

Investigators say when Air Canada employees tried to locate the container, they realized it wasn't there and quickly launched an internal investigation. Police were alerted to the stolen goods at 3 a.m. the next day, Mawiti said.

Police said a thorough investigation was conducted, with officers following the truck's route and reviewing CCTV footage from 225 businesses and residences before it was recovered.

Mawiti said last summer they identified the driver of the truck, 25-year-old Durante King-McLean, but were unable to locate him.

In the US, 65 illegal firearms were seized after the arrest of the suspect

In September 2023, Mavity said King-McLean was pulled over by Pennsylvania State Police in a rental car near Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.

“After a short foot chase, he was apprehended and troopers recovered 65 illegal firearms from the vehicle,” Mawiti said on Wednesday.

Mavity said investigators believe the stolen gold was melted down and sold, and that the proceeds were used to purchase illegal weapons for a firearms trafficking operation.

He said members of Project 24K have been in contact with the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) regarding this aspect of the investigation.

Speaking at a press conference Wednesday, an ATF spokesman said the law enforcement agency believes 65 guns seized during the King-McLean arrest were shipped to Canada.

King-McLean is currently in custody in the United States and is wanted on multiple charges related to the gold theft.

“We suspect that some of the people involved in this gold theft are also involved in aspects of this firearms trafficking,” Mawiti added.

Officers in the Peel region executed 37 search warrants related to the 24K project and police said only a small amount of gold was recovered. Six gold bracelets worth about $89,000 were seized, which police believe is jewelry made from some of the stolen gold. According to the police, 434 thousand dollars in Canadian currency were also seized during the investigation. Officers believe the money was obtained by selling some of the stolen gold.

During the investigation, investigators found two “debt lists” at two locations, police said.

“A common term in drug trafficking investigations, we believe these lists show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold by the suspects,” Mawiti said.

He said the names on both lists were “matching” and police were trying to identify all those identified.

“They needed people inside Air Canada”

One Air Canada employee, identified as Parmpal Sidhu, 54, of Brampton, has been charged with theft of more than $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, police said. A Canadian warrant has been issued for Simran Preet Panesar, 31, who police say resigned as an Air Canada manager over the summer.

“He has been known to us since the beginning of the investigation. Before we knew he was involved, he was giving a tour of the Peel Regional Police,” Mawiti said on Wednesday.

He said police had an idea where Panezar might be, but did not elaborate on the possible location.

Mawiti said he believed the suspects needed internal staff to carry out the theft.

“Because of their position at Air Canada, I think, yes, they needed people inside Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” he said.

Correction: Police initially said nine suspects were in custody in the case, but later clarified that three of the nine suspects are wanted across Canada and a fourth is in custody in the United States.