Pearson gold heist arrests include Air Canada staff, as police recover just $90K out of $20M in missing gold

Just $90,000 worth of the stolen gold has been recovered, police said at a press conference Wednesday, as they announced six arrests and three outstanding warrants on the one year anniversary of the massive heist.

“This investigation isn’t done,” Peel Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich.

It was the largest gold theft in Canadian history and the sixth largest anywhere in the world, said 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.

“It’s almost out of an Ocean’s Eleven movie or a C.S.I (TV show),” Brown said, standing alongside investigators.

“This story is a sensational one and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said, as the gold and cash heist investigation also led to the disruption of a delivery of a “large quantity of firearms” intended for Canada.

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.

That driver from Brampton is now locked in an American jail, facing charges of attempting to illegally traffic firearms, including automatic weapons.

The massive Pearson heist was made using a doctored shipping document, police said at the press conference.

The gold arrived on an Air Canada flight and was loaded onto a panel truck with a forklift, police said. The press conference was held in front of a white truck which police said was used to transport the gold.

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.

On the evening of April 17, 2023, police say a van driver presented a doctored waybill to Air Canada staff at a warehouse in Pearson International Airport, police said.

That person 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, Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity, major case manager for Project 24K, told reporters.

“We believe the gold has been melted down and reconstituted” Mavity said.

Police, through its investigation, recovered $430,000 in Canadian currency, thought to be some of the profits made when suspects sold the gold.

Mavity also said “six crudely made gold bracelets” were recovered, and valued at about $90,000.

Police also recovered two “debt lists,” which they believe show how the money was distributed and when the gold was sold.

Police allege that the Brampton man arrested in Pennsylvania was working to bring the guns to Canada, using funding from the gold heist.

Peel Regional Chair Nando Iannicca, who was part of Wednesday’s announcement, 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 that the company had not taken out insurance on the valuable cargo.

A spokesperson for Brink’s told the Star that 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.”

Update - April 17, 2024

This article was updated to make clear that nine people are facing charges from Peel Regional Police – six have been arrested and three have outstanding warrants. Earlier information from police suggested all nine suspects had been arrested.