9 Arrested in Toronto Airport Heist of $14.8 Million in Gold, Only Part Recovered

Canadian authorities on Wednesday arrested nine people and wanted three more in connection with the theft of $14.77 million (C$20 million) worth of gold from Toronto's Pearson International Airport last year.

Police found only six pure gold bracelets worth more than $65,000, part of the gold stolen from the cargo hold last April. Authorities announced the arrests on the one-year anniversary of the robbery.

According to the police, 6,600 bars of pure gold weighing more than 400 kilograms and about 1.8 million dollars in foreign currency were stolen during the theft. They believe the thieves melted down the gold, sold it and used the proceeds to buy illegal firearms as part of the sale operation, Peel Regional Police Detective Sgt. This was announced by Mike Maviti at a press conference on Wednesday.

Police seized $312,000 in cash, which they believe was part of the suspects' earnings after selling the gold. Police also seized melting pots, ingots and molds believed to have been used to alter the composition of the gold bars, Mavity reports.

They also found two listings in two separate locations for $7.21 million and $10.23 million.

“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.

During the year-long investigation, authorities say they conducted 37 search warrants and interviewed more than 50 people. They have brought 19 charges against individuals in this case.

Canadian police, working with the Philadelphia Field Unit of the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arrested a man in possession of 65 illegal firearms in the US.

He was stopped during a routine traffic stop, which resulted in his arrest. It was later revealed that he was the truck driver at the time of the theft, police said.

Police are looking for a former Air Canada employee who helped the thieves and two other people involved.

The gold and foreign currency stolen during the robbery were ordered from an oil refinery in Zurich. They were flown to Toronto by Air Canada.

Shortly after the plane landed on April 17, 2023, the gold and cargo were transferred from the plane to a cargo facility, Mavity said.

The suspect, who was driving a five-ton truck, came to the facility that evening, handed the warehouse clerk a fake waybill, and took the shipment. The airline bill was a duplicate of the bill used to ship the seafood the previous day, Mawiti said.

Later, a container with gold and foreign currency was loaded into a truck and the suspect fled. The container's disappearance was discovered later that night after Brink's Canada employees arrived to retrieve the container, Mawiti said.