New Delhi:

Canada on Thursday cracked one of the most audacious heists in its history, unravelling a web of criminal activity that intertwined gold, cash, and firearms. The plot, reminiscent of a script straight out of a crime thriller, unfolded at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, leaving investigators grappling with a multimillion-dollar puzzle.

The heist, which took place on April 17 in 2023, saw an unexplained disappearance of a staggering cache of riches: over 22 million Canadian dollars’ worth of gold bars and foreign currency stolen away from a secure storage facility within the airport’s premises. The modus operandi to carry out the heist involved forged paperwork to gain access to the precious cargo.

The Heist 

On April 17 last year, cargo container arrived at Pearson International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland, aboard an Air Canada flight. Inside were 6,600 bars of .9999% pure gold, weighing 400 kilograms, along with 2.5 million Canadian dollars’ worth in foreign currency. The precious cargo was destined for secure storage within the airport premises before reaching its final destinations. However, they never did.

Surveillance footage captured the moment when the truck, driven by one of the accused, pulled up to the warehouse and loaded the container filled with gold bars and banknotes. Within hours of its arrival, the valuable cargo vanished into the night, setting off a chain of events that would reverberate across borders.

Central to the heist plan were individuals employed by Air Canada, the country’s flag carrier, who allegedly played key roles in facilitating the theft. Among those arrested were former and current employees, including Parmpal Sidhu and Simran Preet Panesar, whose positions within the airline provided them with insider knowledge crucial to executing the heist.

The Hunt

The police were alerted to the disappearance of the cargo the following morning, setting off an investigation that spanned international jurisdictions. After months of relentless investigation, law enforcement agencies made significant breakthroughs. Arrests were made, warrants were issued, and a web of connections began to unravel. 

The investigation uncovered a labyrinthine network of individuals, including those of Indian origin, involved in the crime.

The saga did not end with the heist itself. In a dramatic turn of events, police on both sides of the US-Canada border joined forces, unravelling a nexus between the stolen gold and an illegal firearms trafficking operation. The arrest of Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old man from Brampton, in the US exposed a parallel criminal network, revealing ties between the gold thieves and a scheme to smuggle firearms into Canada.

Police seized evidence suggesting that the stolen gold had been melted down and transformed into other forms, such as jewellery, in an attempt to conceal its origins. 

In total, seven were arrested after a year-long investigation.