The Toronto airport gold heist is the 6th largest gold heist in history

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On the first anniversary of one of Canada's most infamous and notorious crimes, the theft of 24 gold bars from Toronto's Pearson Airport, an international gold company has ranked the hit as the sixth largest gold heist in the modern history of global crime.

$20 million arrested in gold heist at Toronto Pearson Airport

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The Canadian heist occurred on April 17, 2023, when gold bars weighing 400.19 kilograms were flown in from Switzerland but disappeared from Toronto airport before their owners could collect them.

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As gruesome and eye-popping as the theft was—a cargo container filled with gold bars and cash was likely taken by an unknown and unauthorized person less than an hour after arriving at an Air Canada cargo facility on the edge of airport property—it was the most valuable of the loot. away from the big gold heist.

UK-based Gold Bullion has ranked the world's most notorious modern gold thieves based on the value of each of the top ten gold heists, with all values ​​converted to the current value of gold.

“Once melted down, gold is one of the biggest targets for thieves because of its intrinsic value and limited traceability,” a company spokesperson said.

Current gold estimates are based on March 22 gold prices using the company's daily gold price charts. National Post converted their values ​​from British pounds to Canadian dollars.

The biggest gold heist in modern history is the escapee above, according to this estimate: the January 20, 1976, British Middle East bank robbery in Beirut. The brutal attack targeted a group linked to the Palestine Liberation Organization. Through the bank wall during the Lebanese civil war.

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In this rating, 12,000 kilograms of gold worth more than 1 billion dollars — 1,143,870,142 dollars in losses. That's four times higher than the next biggest theft.

The second largest gold heist was the Brink's-MAT gold heist on November 26, 1983 in London, England. It was violent. Six robbers entered a warehouse near Heathrow Airport with the help of an undercover security guard, doused employees with gasoline and threatened them with lit matches before they opened the safes. They conquered 3000 kg on 152 bars.

The lost gold is now valued at $285,967,535.

The third largest gold heist was also from an airport terminal in Brazil, on July 25, 2019 at Guarulos Airport in Sao Paulo. On a weekday, heavily armed men dressed as federal police officers stormed a warehouse. They took security guards hostage and other airport employees loaded the gold into two trucks and then drove away.

The stolen 748 kg of gold is currently valued at $71,341,979.

The fourth-place robbery appeared to be much simpler – two men pulled nylon stockings over their heads before entering a gold and jewelry smelter in Miami known as Golden Door Jewelry.

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The pair carted away 736 kilograms of gold, which is now worth $70,157,369.

In fifth place is an inside job: the 2013 heist at the Sibanye gold mine west of Johannesburg, South Africa. Unusually for this list, this led to mass arrests, including 20 miners working for the company and two former ones. miners.

The stolen 500 kilograms of gold was valued at $47,661,255.

Next, at number six, is the Toronto Pearson heist. The company estimates the current value of the lost 400 kilograms of gold at $38,135,486.

Seventh place in the ranking of gold robberies in April 1995 work in Australia. This one was much closer than the others: it was believed to be the only safe cracker that hit a single victim, a wealthy Australian executive. The safe was in the office of media mogul Kerry Packer in Sydney.

Packer's lost 285 kilograms of gold was valued at $27,166,915.

Number eight is the November 2012 near-raid of a fishing boat off the Dutch Caribbean island of Curacao by pirates posing as police.

They stole 216 kilos of gold bars worth $20,589,663 today.

The number nine is to steal gold – obsolete. On May 15, 1855, three boxes of gold were stolen from a train traveling from London to the port of Folkestone in Great Britain. One of these four robbers was a security guard. It is called the Great Gold Rush, but its grandeur has since been greatly surpassed.

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Today, the stolen 91 kilograms are valued at $8,674,348.

The tenth largest gold heist is the Singapore Brink robbery on July 2, 2012. Two people stole 70 gold bars of one kilogram each. One was caught trying to flee the country soon after.

This cost is estimated at $6,672,575.

According to the company, most of the thefts go unsolved and little of the gold stolen from all thefts is recovered.

Rick Kanda, managing director of The Gold Bullion, said: “Precious metals make an excellent investment because they are a liquid asset, very easy to buy and sell, and widely accepted as a currency.” “However, this makes them a potential target for thieves looking for a quick score, so keeping your gold and silver collections safe is vital.”

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