Police investigating a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport have arrested six men and seized dozens of firearms linked to the case which officers said “belongs in a Netflix series”.
Six thousand six hundred gold bars, worth C$21m, and C$2.7m in cash were stolen from a cargo facility at Toronto’s Pearson international airport a year ago in the country’s largest-ever gold heist.
On Wednesday, Peel regional police were joined by members of the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to announce developments linked to a “vast and complex” investigation that spanned the two countries. Investigators have arrested six people – five in Canada and one in the US – laid 19 charges and issued three Canada-wide warrants.
The thieves, who arrived at the airport with a five-tonne truck, were able to abscond with the gold after presenting a genuine airline waybill – but one that had been used for a seafood order the day before.
“This story is a sensational one and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” said the Peel regional police chief, Nishan Duraiappah, standing in front of the truck used in the heist.
Police say the gold, which had recently arrived from Zurich, was later melted down and allegedly used to fund the purchase of firearms intended for sale in Canada as part of a trafficking ring. Smelting pots, casts and moulds were seized as part of the investigation.
Among those arrested were Parmpal Sidhu, a 54-year-old Air Canada employee. A second employee, Simran Preet Panesar, 31, is the subject of a nationwide warrant, prompting police to call the heist an “inside job”. The suspected driver of the truck, Durante King-Mclean, is in custody in the US. He was pulled over during a traffic stop in Pennsylvania and was found with 65 firearms in his possession. Police say two of the guns had been modified to have fully automatic capabilities and five of the guns had been stripped of their serial numbers.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
The airline and armoured car company that handled the cargo are still locked in a bitter lawsuit over the theft, with each saying the other is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists. Brink’s, the armoured car company, says that because of this lax security, thieves were able to leave with a haul of gold weighing 400kg and stacks of cash weighing more than 50kg. Air Canada alleges Brink’s shipped the gold and cash from Zurich to Toronto without declaring its value, failing to add any insurance and declining to pay extra for added security.
Both companies have invoked the Montreal convention, which regulates international shipments and sets a compensation limit for the loss of cargo. None of the statements or allegations filed in the lawsuit documents have been tested in the federal court which is hearing the case.
