1 year after the Pearson heist, no arrests and no sign yet of all that gold and cash
CBC
The Air Canada flight leaving Zurich, Switzerland, a year ago, had some precious cargo aboard — namely 400 kilograms of gold and nearly $2 million US in cash.
It was moved across the Atlantic Ocean on April 17, 2023, just three days after a security firm had arranged for its transport to Canada.
The gold and the money — with a combined value of at least $20 million Cdn at the time — made it to Toronto's Pearson airport.
Where it went next is unclear.
Because someone took that haul of riches somewhere else, without getting caught.
Peel Regional Police — the law enforcement agency that responds to issues at the airport — didn't reveal that the headline-making heist had taken place until several days after the fact.
On April 20 of last year, Peel Regional Police Insp. Stephen Duivesteyn told reporters the cargo had arrived at the airport days earlier, where it was unloaded and then stored at a holding facility "as per normal procedure."
He said the high-value container was then removed "by illegal means" from the Pearson facility.
The inspector did not identify who had custody of the valuable shipment at the time of the theft, but it would emerge in media reports that Air Canada's cargo operations were handling it when it went missing.
In October, Air Canada was hit with a lawsuit over the theft, with Brink's — the security firm that was transporting the gold and banknotes for separate Swiss clients — seeking millions in damages.
In court documents, Brink's alleges that the unidentified person who undertook the physical theft gained access to Air Canada's cargo facilities less than 45 minutes after the gold and the cash had been deposited there.
The same person presented a "fraudulent waybill" to get the shipment released, "following which the unidentified individual absconded with the cargo," Brink's says in its statement of claim.
Air Canada filed a statement of defence the following month, denying "each and every allegation" Brink's made regarding the theft.
Twelve months after the high-value theft at Pearson, Peel Regional Police say investigators are "working around the clock in order to locate, arrest and charge those responsible for this crime."
