A major heist at Pearson took $22 million in gold and banknotes

At this point, investigators don’t know who stole the gold

Was the heist an Ocean’s 11 caper or an inside job?

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Don't have an account? Create Account

A major heist at Pearson Airport in Toronto has left a major bank out $22 million and a leading airline wondering what went wrong.

From our newsroom to your inbox at noon, the latest headlines, stories, opinion and photos from the Toronto Sun.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

The theft, first reported by the Toronto Sun, happened on Monday in the early evening hours and saw $22 million worth of gold and banknotes stolen. A confidential memo shared with the Sun stated that the bank in question was TD while the airline was Air Canada.

Asked for a comment, Air Canada sent a terse note from a generic email address.

“Hello, we have no information to provide. Please contact the Peel Police,” the email read in full.

TD did not respond to several requests for comment sent to the bank.

It’s understood that the gold and banknotes were being shipped as part of an intra-bank transaction, though the identity of the other bank in the transaction isn’t known at this time.

“An aircraft arrived here at the airport in the early evening and as per normal procedure, the aircraft was unloaded, and cargo was transported from the aircraft to holding cargo facility,” Insp. Stephen Duivesteyn said during a Thursday evening press conference.

Initially, sources said the amount of gold stolen was 3,600 pounds, which would have a value of over $100 million USD or over $140 million CAD. According to one source, the fact that police are saying the amount stolen was just over $20 million means the thieves only took a portion of the shipment, not the whole thing.

Officially, police are providing few details other than the goods stolen were contained in a single aircraft shipping container, which Duivesteyn described as being square with dimensions in the five to six foot range.

“This sort of thing never should have happened,” said one industry insider, noting the need for armed guards when handling such shipments.

According to another source, police believe whoever pulled this heist off had inside help.

On Thursday, police were providing few details on an official basis. Speculation on where the gold has gone, including whether it has left the country, remains just that, speculation.

One possible angle sources have said police are investigating is the possibility organized crime was involved.

Ports of all kinds, air and marine, have long been used by criminal elements to either steal or move stolen goods. Gangs and other organized crime elements work hard to either place their people in jobs at ports, like Pearson, or compromise those already employed there.

There are three main cargo facilities at Pearson, Cargo North, Cargo East and Cargo West. According to one source, the shipment was being handled at Cargo East, a facility off Airport Rd. used by multiple brokers and carriers.

In Ottawa, both the RCMP and government officials confirmed to various media outlets that they are looking into the matter but did not provide further details.

Pearson is rated as one of the top 30 cargo airports in the world with three main cargo facilities on site – Cargo North, Cargo East and Cargo West. Combined these facilities have 1.2 million square feet of on-airport warehouse space and more than 240 truck loading doors.

The airport handles 45% of all of Canada’s air cargo traffic with more than 1 million metric tonnes of cargo coming and going from 175 countries around the world. To say a lot of goods move through Pearson is an understatement – the airport is the lynchpin of the GTA’s logistics system.

This isn’t the first major gold heist to happen out of Pearson.

In 1952, ten boxes of gold were bound for Montreal but only four boxes showed up. That heist was valued at between $215,000 to $330,000 at the time or more than $3 million today.

[email protected]

A LOOK AT HUGE HEISTS IN CANADA OVER THE YEARS

1953: 10 boxes of gold bars worth between $215,000 and $330,000 at the time (valued at about $3 million today) were in a locked steel cage in a warehouse at Toronto’s Malton Airport (now Pearson Airport) waiting to be loaded onto a cargo flight to Montreal. But when the plane arrived, only four boxes were found. Interrogations of all workers turned up zilch and police were left stumped. They eventually theorized an insider tipped off the thieves, who were never caught.

1972: Three men rappelled into the Museum of Fine Arts in Montreal and made off with millions of dollars of jewelry and priceless paintings, then vanished into thin air. The value of the missing pieces was estimated to be about $2 million at the time (valued at about $13.8 million now) but could be more since the authenticity of the works of art can’t ever be confirmed unless they are returned or found.

1985: Police arrested seven people in connection with a heist that saw a reported $68.5 million (valued at about $164.6 million today) in stocks and bonds stolen from Merrill Lynch’s Montreal offices two months prior. But it was essentially a worthless crime as the papers they stole contained serial numbers, which securities sent out around the world, making it all nearly impossible to cash in.

2007: Gemstar, a North York diamond distributor, was left dazed and confused after thieves made off with $5 to $6 million in the precious stones. The robbers cut the business’ phone line, disabled the security system, entered the locked building, got into the office and took their time to cut open two large safes containing the cut and uncut loose diamonds. They disappeared without a trace.

2011 and 2012: Nearly 3,000 tons of maple syrup worth $18.7 million was stolen from a Quebec warehouse by thieves who drained large barrels and replaced the sticky stuff with water. The theft went unnoticed for months until a routine inventory check discovered the sweet switch. Two-thirds of the syrup was recovered, and the thieves with a sweet tooth were handed hefty fines and prison sentences.

— compiled by Denette Wilford

Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.

From the outside, the cargo facility along Airport Rd. looks secure.

Peel police say suspect allegedly received over $60,000 from victim

Incident took place at Bramsteele and Rutherford Rds.

The suspect’s father brought his son after school into 11 Division

MyChoice says there’s been a 27% increase in car theft search terms in Canada since 2022