Police arrest six, seek three others linked to Canada's largest gold heist

The Brink's

17/04/2024 17:22

By KyawSoe Oo
       BRAMPTON, Ontario, April 17 (Reuters) - Police in Canada
and the United States have arrested six people and are seeking
three others in connection with the theft of over C$22 million
($16 million) in gold and cash from an Air Canada cargo facility
last year.
    In what authorities described as the largest gold heist in
Canadian history, suspects including an Air Canada employee
forged an airway bill to steal the cargo that had arrived in
Toronto from Zurich in April 2023.
    The cargo contained 6,600 gold bars weighing 400 kilograms
(882 pounds), worth over C$20 million, and C$2.5 million in
foreign currency, the Peel regional police told reporters at a
briefing.
    The suspects have been hit with more than 19 charges by the
authorities, who recovered one kilogram of gold and
approximately C$434,000 in Canadian currency, police said.
    The stolen gold may have been melted and reconstituted,
making it difficult to track down, police said.
    Police also recovered some 65 firearms that investigators
allege were purchased from the proceeds of the theft.
    "We believe that they've melted down the gold and then the
profits they got from the gold, they use to help finance the
firearms," Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity said.
    Five suspects were arrested in Canada and conditionally
released. One suspect, originally from Brampton, Ontario, was
arrested in Pennsylvania along with the firearms and remains in
custody in the United States. Canada-wide warrants have been
issued for the remaining three suspects, police said.
    Following the heist, Miami-based transport and security
services provider Brinks  BCO.N  sued Air Canada in October,
alleging "negligence and carelessness" by the airline. 
    Brinks had been hired by Swiss bank Raiffeisen Schweiz and
precious metals refining company Valcambi to move the valuables
from Switzerland to Canada.

($1 = 1.3798 Canadian dollars)

 (Reporting by KyawSoe Oo in Brampton, Ontario and Ismail Shakil
in Ottawa; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
 ((ismail.shakil@tr.com;))