Police have released video of the moment a suspect left Toronto’s Pearson International Airport with more than $22 million in gold and cash.
Police released new details about the The largest gold robbery in Canadian history and announced the arrest of several people in connection with the incident on the one-year anniversary of the robbery on Wednesday.
Detective Sergeant. Mike Mavity, the lead case manager for the joint investigation, called Project 24K, told reporters that the shipment of gold and foreign currency arrived at Pearson from Zurich, Switzerland, on an Air Canada plane at approximately 3:56 p.m. from April 17, 2023.
Once the shipment landed, Mavity said it was unloaded at an Air Canada cargo facility. At 6:32 p.m., one of the suspects arrived at the facilities in a five-ton truck and removed a fake air waybill to an Air Canada warehouse manager.
Video released by police shows a forklift carrying the shipment and loading it into the suspect’s truck. After making sure the cargo is secure, the suspect locks the truck and drives away.
The shipment included 6,600 gold bars with a purity of 99.9 percent and weighed more than 400 kilograms. Police said the gold was valued at $20 million based on current estimates and the cash amounted to approximately $2.5 million.
It was not until 9:30 p.m. when Brink’s Canada, the company contracted to provide security and logistics services for transporting the shipment, arrived at the facility to pick up the container that Air Canada employees realized was missing, he said. police.
Mavity said Peel Regional Police were notified about the stolen goods shortly before 3 a.m. the next day.
What followed was four weeks of canvassing local businesses and residences in the area looking for video surveillance that may have captured images of the truck leaving. After reviewing video surveillance from more than 225 different businesses and residences in and around Peel Region, Mavity said investigators were able to determine the route the suspect took after the robbery.
Additional video released by police shows parts of the truck’s journey after the theft, as well as a map illustrating the driver’s route.
The driver is believed to have traveled westbound on Britannia Road East before heading south on Dixie Road and west on Highway 401.
The truck then continued west into the Halton region before heading north on Bronte Road towards Milton. At that point, Mavity said, police lost surveillance of the truck.
The truck was eventually located in Peel Region after Pennsylvania State Police stopped the driver, identified by police as 25-year-old Brampton resident Durante King-McLean, in a separate incident in September 2023.
At that time, Mavity said, King-McLean was detained after a brief foot chase and officers located 65 illegal firearms in his vehicle. King-McLean is currently in US custody but is wanted by Peel Police on charges of theft over $5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime.
“Obviously by identifying the driver, it made it a little easier for us to find the truck,” he said.
Five other suspects were also arrested and charged, but have since been released on parole. Three other suspects are wanted on warrants across Canada.
Police said at least two of the suspects were Air Canada employees at the time of the heist.
So far, police have only recovered $89,000 of the stolen gold, Mavity said. Police also confiscated $450,000 in Canadian currency, which investigators believe is a portion of the profits made from the sale of the stolen gold.