TORONTO: Canadian police are investigating the theft of a C$20 million ($14.84 million) cargo of gold and other valuables that was stolen from a holding facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The cargo was reported missing after arriving on an aircraft early on Monday evening, Peel Regional Police Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn told a news conference on Thursday.

Duivesteyn said after the aircraft landed the cargo was unloaded and taken to a holding facility, in line with normal procedure, but disappeared some time afterwards.

“Subsequent to its arrival this high value cargo was removed by illegal means from the holding facility,” Duivesteyn said.

“Our investigators have got their eyes opened to all avenues,” he said. “We’re looking at all angles on how this item was stolen.”

The Toronto Sun reported that the thieves made off with 3,600 pounds of gold, citing anonymous sources saying authorities are looking at organised crime groups in the region.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) said it was aware of the theft, adding that the thieves accessed the public side of a warehouse leased to a third party, outside the GTAA’s primary security line.

The theft “did not involve access to Toronto Pearson itself and did not pose a threat to passengers or GTAA staff”, the GTAA said in a statement late on Thursday.

The cargo was reported missing to police a short time later. Duivesteyn would not say where the aircraft carrying the cargo had come from, or its final destination. “This is very rare,” he said.

According to BBC, the theft could mark one of the bigger heists in Canadian history, a list that includes the 2011 and 2012 Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist when 3,000 tonnes of syrup valued at $18.7m were stolen from a storage facility in Quebec.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2023