An air cargo container containing about $15 million in gold and other valuables went missing from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday, April 17, and Canadian police are now investigating.
Large-Scale Theft at a Busy Airport
According to NBC News, a plane had landed at the busy airport in the early evening, and its cargo had been unloaded and sent to a holding facility "as per normal procedure," Peel Regional Police Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn said during a press conference. The size of the container was estimated to be about 5 or 6 square feet.
What became of the priceless cargo after it was unloaded remains a mystery, despite Duivesteyn's assurances to the press that it had been taken away "by illegal means."
Police were notified of the missing shipment not long after, and an inquiry was initiated, he added. They have refused to remark on whether or not this was a professional job, citing the still-open status of the investigation.
The police inspector estimated the container's contents to be worth a little over 20 million Canadian dollars (approximately $14.8 million). However, he did not specify how much gold or what other treasures were inside.
There was "gold and other items of monetary value," he stated, clarifying that gold was not an exclusive component.
Duivesteyn declined to comment on the plane's origin or eventual destination, so it is unclear where the cargo was headed.
Up until early Friday, April 21, no suspects had been named.
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Canada's Biggest Robberies
Although this appears to be one of the largest heists ever committed in Canada, it is not the first time something similar has happened in a Canadian airport.
According to archival reports from The Associated Press, another Canadian airport crime involving armed criminals ambushing a private jet and stealing over $13.7 million in gold ingots and other valuables made news in 1990. At the time, it was one of the biggest robberies carried out in the country.
There were reportedly four masked guys involved in the theft at Dorval International Airport near Montreal. They used a stolen garbage truck to smash through a barrier and then drove off with the loot in stolen vans. Police at the time termed the explosion of a pipe bomb hidden behind a construction trailer at an airport a distraction strategy.
Meanwhile, in a report by The Toronto Star, gold bars worth a total of $215,000 in Canadian money at the time went missing in 1952 in what seems to have been a theft at Malton Airport. It was the predecessor of the Toronto Pearson international airport.
The robbery that occurred on Monday also prompted comparisons to the theft of maple syrup in 2012. As per the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the incident included the stealing of approximately 3,000 tons of syrup from a storage facility in Quebec at a value of $18.7 million in Canadian currency.
