$14.5 million in gold, smuggled weapons, and nine detainees

It was a brazen robbery: thousands of gold bullion and millions of dollars in banknotes had been stolen a year earlier at Toronto International Airport.

On Wednesday, the Canadian authorities announced the arrest of nine people, including an Air Canada employee, in connection with the theft of more than 20 million Canadian dollars, or about $14.5 million, in gold bullion, as well as 2.5 million Canadian dollars, or about $1.8 million. One million dollars in banknotes disappeared from a warehouse at Toronto's Pearson Airport in April 2023.

Arrest warrants were also issued for three other people, including an airline executive.

“This story is exciting,” Peel Region Police Chief Nishan Durayabah said during a press conference on Wednesday, in front of a truck he claimed was used in the robbery. A story that “we jokingly say is a Netflix series.” Peel Police are responsible for law enforcement at Toronto Airport.

Durrayappah said the gold was partly used to buy weapons destined for Canada. The man driving the truck used in the gold heist was arrested in Pennsylvania in September after a police officer stopped the rental car for a traffic violation and found 65 weapons, two of which were fully automatic rifles. The man was charged with conspiring to illegally smuggle firearms into Canada.

It is not clear if this is the decision and we investigación separate from the Alcohol Agencia, Tabaco, Armas de Fuego and Explosivos de Estados Unidos (ATF, with their name in English) sobre the contrabando of the Armas of Fuego Fueron that revelaron the tram del robo in general. Eric DeGree, an ATF special agent who was present at the news conference, said the agency contacted Peel police after finding the man's name in a police information database.

The gold heist, which Durayabah says is the largest ever in Canada, seems quite simple. The gold and cash arrived at Toronto Airport in a special container on an Air Canada flight coming from Switzerland on April 17, 2023, and were transported to one of the airline's warehouses.

The container included 6,600 gold bars destined for a bank in Toronto and banknotes destined for an exchange office.

About two hours later, a truck driven by the man detained in Pennsylvania arrived at the warehouse. According to police, the man was carrying a bill of lading (a document usually issued by the transport company containing detailed information about the shipment) allowing him access to the warehouse.

In fact, this was an exact copy of a bill of lading, produced by an Air Canada printer, for a shipment of seafood received the day before.

The container containing the gold bullion and banknotes was loaded onto the truck.

“They needed people inside Air Canada to facilitate this theft,” Peel Police Sergeant Mike Mavety said at the news conference.

The footage showed the truck driving on Canada's busiest highway before disappearing in a rural area west of the city.

Peel police officers were alerted early the next morning after an armored Brink's truck arrived with the actual track sheet for a shipment of gold and banknotes.

Police said Wednesday they believed the gold bars, which had serial numbers, had all been melted down, and some melting pots had been seized. According to police, the only gold found was six bracelets made of pure gold worth approximately 89,000 Canadian dollars. Among those arrested was the owner of a jewelry store in Toronto.

During the press conference, police displayed two handwritten lists, which they said detailed payments to the people involved in the robbery.

“It's a story of reverse chemistry,” said Nando Ianika, head of the regional government. “It's about how gold becomes weapons.”