VIDEO: $20M in gold loaded onto truck in daring heist at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

In what Peel’s police chief described as a crime and crime-fighting story that’s “a sensational one and one which…we jokingly say belongs in a Netflix series,” a group of men hatched a plan to quickly and quietly steal more than $20 million in gold bars and another couple of million in cash from Canada’s biggest and busiest airport and then disappear into the wind.

“This was a carefully planned” scheme and a “well-organized” group of alleged criminals that orchestrated the largest gold heist in Canadian history — and among the largest in North America and the world — on April 17, 2023, Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah said at a highly anticipated and well-attended press conference earlier today in Brampton.

Several investigators spoke at length at the Wednesday morning gathering about details of the case and those they believe to have been involved (nine men charged or being sought so far) in the crime that cleverly unfolded at Pearson Airport in Mississauga and then quickly created international headlines when news of the heist spread the following day.

Flanked by a couple dozen investigators from Peel and the U.S. involved in the year-long probe dubbed Project 24 Karat, which authorities were sure to note remains an open and ongoing investigation, Duraiappah said police are revealing more details than they normally would given the intense public interest in the case.

The five-tonne truck used to steal $20 million in gold and $2.5 million in cash from Pearson Airport in Mississauga. (Photo: Peel Regional Police)

For one, a man believed to have been an integral part of the robbery given his position as a manager at the Air Canada cargo warehouse from where the gold and cash were stolen (see first video below) took Peel police investigators on a tour of the facility shortly after the heist as they searched for clues.

The Brampton man resigned his position a couple of months later, in summer 2023, police said, and he’s one of three men now being sought on Canada-wide arrest warrants.

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And last September in Pennsylvania, state police troopers pulled over a rental vehicle late at night for relatively minor violations. The driver then led police on a brief foot chase before being apprehended. He’s believed to be the same man who was behind the wheel of the truck that left Pearson last April with the gold and money.

U.S. investigators said they found 65 firearms inside the vehicle, the guns believed to have been destined for the streets in Ontario and across Canada.

It was at that point U.S. authorities — specifically the ATF — linked up with Peel police on the investigation.

Following is a brief timeline of events leading up to the theft last April and shortly thereafter, as laid out by investigators:

• April 17, 2023 — 3:56 p.m.: Air Canada plane carrying some $20 million (Canadian) in 99.99 per cent pure gold bars and $2.5 million (Canadian) in foreign currency lands at Pearson Airport in Mississauga from Switzerland. The valuable cargo is then offloaded to a nearby Air Canada warehouse
• 6:32 p.m.: five-tonne truck and driver arrive at Air Canada cargo facility. A short time later and with the help of paperwork from a legitimate seafood delivery the previous day, the 6,600 gold bars (weighing more than 400 kilograms) and cash are loaded via forklift onto the truck and the driver leaves the airport area. Over the next hour or so, the truck heads to Highway 401 westbound, exits at Bronte Road and travels north through Milton, where it disappears (see video at bottom of story)
• 9:30 p.m.: U.S.-based Brink’s Security, which owns the gold and cash, arrives at cargo facility to pick up shipment. That’s when Air Canada officials realize the goods are missing
• April 18, 2023 — 2:43 a.m.: Peel Regional Police are contacted and made aware of the huge theft

To date, investigators have recovered only about $90,000 in the stolen gold, in the form of six gold bracelets. They said gold bars can quickly be melted down and sold in a number of different ways, including — as suspected in this case — for guns, cash and other items.

Police said in addition to 65 guns recovered in Pennsylvania as part of Project 24 Karat, they’ve also recovered about $430,000 in Canadian cash.