ONE BIG QUESTION
Police announce arrests in massive Pearson gold heist — but only a fraction of the stolen haul has been recovered
The five-tonne truck raised no alarm as it pulled into an Air Canada cargo hold exactly one year ago.
It wasn’t long before police say it had made off with what they describe as the largest gold theft in Canadian history.
The gold — weighing more than 400 kilograms and valued at more than $20 million — was stolen the same night it had arrived at Pearson International Airport from Switzerland. Police traced it on a winding route through city streets and rural roads before it was eventually connected to an international arms trafficking ring.
On Wednesday, officers with Peel Regional Police and the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau stood in front of the seized truck and provided details of the “carefully planned” heist at Pearson, which they believe was an inside job.
Two Air Canada employees and a Toronto jewelry store owner were allegedly among the inner group that plotted the theft of nearly $24 million in gold and cash from a storage unit at Pearson, police say.
Just $90,000 worth of the stolen gold has been recovered, police said at a press conference on the first anniversary of the massive heist. Six people have been arrested and there are Canada-wide warrants out for three others, including a former Air Canada manager, who quit his post last summer and reportedly gave police a tour of the facility before they knew of his involvement.
“This investigation isn’t done,” said Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich.
The heist was the sixth-largest gold theft in the world, according to police, who called their investigation Project 24K.
Milinovich called the theft “very organized” and said proceeds were used to fund other criminal activities like gun trafficking.
“Organized crime doesn’t specialize,” Milinovich said.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown spoke in glowing terms about the police operation, adding the heist had the makings of a movie.
“It’s almost out of an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ movie or a ‘CSI’ ,” Brown said, standing alongside investigators.
Police say they traced the gold to a refinery in Zurich, before it arrived on an Air Canada flight on April 17, 2023. A man allegedly pulled up to the warehouse and presented a doctored shipping document that was actually for a different shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before.
Air Canada employees proceeded to load the container of gold and foreign currency onto a panel truck with a forklift, police said.
The driver of that truck drove away with 6,600 gold bars valued at $20 million, each one nearly 99.9 per cent pure, and the equivalent of $4 million in foreign cash, Det. Sgt. Mike Mavity told reporters.
When Air Canada employees tried to locate the container later that evening, they realized it was gone. That led to an internal investigation and police being notified. “We believe the gold has been melted down and reconstituted,” Mavity said.
Shortly after the suspected driver left the warehouse, the truck was seen leaving the area, according to a time-stamped video that police reconstructed from video surveillance retrieved from local residences and businesses.
It travelled on Dixie Road then westbound on Highway 401, passing several turnoffs, before exiting the highway and driving north at around 7:35 p.m. Police lost sight of the truck as it drove through a rural area north of Milton.
Canadian authorities internally identified the suspected driver in the summer but were unsuccessful in locating him. A big break in the case came when a driver from Brampton was pulled over in September in Pennsylvania in a rented vehicle with 65 illegal firearms.
Those weapons were intended for sale on the black market in Canada and likely purchased with proceeds from the gold heist, police said.
They believe the guns were obtained in Florida, Georgia and elsewhere with the help of another Brampton man. A third Brampton man and a Florida woman are accused of being accessories after the fact for concealing evidence and providing information to co-conspirators.
The driver from Brampton is now locked in an American jail, facing charges of attempting to illegally traffic firearms, including automatic weapons.
American authorities said they connected with Canadian police after they found the driver in a police database, where he was listed as a wanted man.
Throughout their investigation, Canadian police executed approximately 37 search warrants, interviewed more than 50 people and checked with more than 225 businesses and residences for video footage.
In addition to the $90,000 worth of gold, police recovered $430,000 in Canadian currency, thought to be some of the profits made when suspects sold the gold, as well as smelting pots, casts and moulds that they believe were used to change the composition of the gold.
They also found two “debt lists,” which they believe show how the money was distributed and when the gold was sold.
Nando Iannicca, chair of the Peel Police Services Board, said details of the investigation reveal a story of “how gold becomes guns.”
“It always comes down to guns and organized crime,” Iannicca said.
Brink’s, the company contracted out to transport the gold and cash from Zurich to Toronto, sued Air Canada in October 2023, alleging the airline was “reckless” and failed to properly secure the company’s precious cargo. The company’s Oct. 6 claim has not been tested in court and in a statement of defence, Air Canada fired back, denying the allegations made by Brink’s and claiming the company had not taken out insurance on the valuable cargo.
A spokesperson for Brink’s told the Star the company is pleased to learn of the arrests in “the Air Canada Heist.”
“We would like to thank the Peel Regional Police for the attention and effort that they have put forth in this investigation. We will continue to co-operate with them as this investigation continues to unfold.”
The spokesperson did not clarify how the new details from Project 24K will impact its ongoing lawsuit.
Christophe Hennebelle, a spokesperson for Air Canada, confirmed that the two men, one arrested and one with an outstanding warrant, both worked in the airline’s cargo division at the time of the heist.
“One left the company prior to the arrests announced today and the second has been suspended,” Hennebelle added. “As this is now a matter before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further on this matter.”