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Nine People, Including an Airline Worker, Are Arrested in $14.5 Million Gold Heist
Quick Facts
- Thousands of gold bars and millions of dollars in bank notes were stolen from Toronto’s international airport a year ago.
- Nine individuals, including an Air Canada employee, have been arrested in connection with the theft.
- The stolen gold bars, with serial numbers, are believed to have been melted down and only a small amount of gold has been recovered.
It was a brazen heist where thousands of gold bars and millions of dollars in bank notes went missing from Toronto’s international airport. On Wednesday, Canadian authorities revealed the arrest of nine individuals, including an Air Canada employee, in connection with the theft of over 20 million Canadian dollars in gold bars and 2.5 million dollars in bank notes from a warehouse at Toronto Pearson Airport in April 2023.
Arrest warrants have also been issued for three other individuals, including a manager at the airline. Nishan Duraiappah, chief of the Peel Regional Police, described the story as sensational, stating that the gold was partially used to purchase guns intended for Canada. The man who drove the truck used in the gold theft was arrested in Pennsylvania in September.
Eric DeGree, a special agent for the A.T.F., stated that the agency contacted the Peel police after finding the man’s name in a police information database. The gold theft, according to Chief Duraiappah, is believed to be Canada’s largest and was deceptively executed using a duplicate waybill printed on an Air Canada printer. The stolen gold bars, which had serial numbers, are suspected to have been melted down and only six bracelets made of pure gold were recovered.
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