Police to announce arrests in $24M Pearson airport gold heist
Police are set to announce arrests in a heist of nearly $24 million in gold and cash from Toronto’s Pearson airport last year.
Peel Regional Police are expected to reveal details this morning of their joint task force investigation — dubbed Project 24K — with the U.S. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau (ATF).
You can watch the news conference, scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET, live in this story.
News of the arrests comes on the one-year anniversary of the daring theft.
Police have previously released little information about the case, but a lawsuit filed against Air Canada by American security company Brink’s alleged that a thief used a forged document to collect $23.8 million in goods from a holding facility at the airport.
The court filing alleged that an “unidentified individual” gained access to Air Canada’s cargo warehouse on April 17, 2023, and presented a fraudulent waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details on the shipment — to Air Canada personnel.
The statement of claim alleges staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold, worth more than $20 million, plus nearly US$2 million in cash to the thief.
Air Canada has denied any improper conduct or responsibility for the theft in its statement of defence and rejected all allegations in the Brink’s lawsuit.
The country’s largest airline said that Brink’s failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill and that to Air Canada’s knowledge, it elected not to insure the stolen shipments.
Meanwhile, an ATF spokesperson told CBC News Monday that the heist is connected to an alleged weapons trafficking ring in the U.S.
