How the $20M Toronto airport gold heist unfolded

this story is a sensational one and one which probably uh we jokingly say belongs in a Netflix series or uh something uh greater than that and so you will see today the opportunity for us to share with you digital media elements of the investigation key components that we don't normally do in media and press releases because we do believe it's in the interest of the public given the nature and and interest regarding this and so without further Ado I'd like to invite detective Sergeant Mike mavid who was um the case manager for this investigation to speak on behalf of his remarkable team Mike thank you Chief thank you everyone for joining us here today my name is detective Sergeant Mike mavid and I'm the major case manager for project 24 Kat on behalf of the primary investigator detect of gour Oaks who's standing to my right we would like to thank the PRP leadership for their support and to the 17 members that make up the investigative team of project 24 Kat some of which are standing behind me today through your hard work and dedication you have made this investigation a success while the investigation of those responsible for the theft is nearing completion other aspects are still ongoing as a result we may not be able to answer some of your questions about certain aspects of this investigation as the matter is before the courts our investigation involves a stolen quantity of gold and foreign currency that were ordered from a refinery in Zurich Switzerland the gold and currency were transported in the hull of an Air Canada flight and an improved Airline container destined for Toronto this flight arrived at Toronto's Pearson International Airport on April 17th 2023 at 3:56 p.m. shortly after the Gold and currency were offloaded from the aircraft and brought into Air Canada cargo facility at 6:32 p.m. the suspect arrived at Air Canada cargo driving a 5ton truck the suspect reversed his vehicle to the loading dock and exited the truck the suspect was carrying a fraudulent airway bill as he approached the warehouse the image you see is the actual airway bill that the suspect produced the airway bill is for a legitimate shipment of seafood that was picked up the day before this duplicate airway bill was printed off from a printer within Air Canada cargo once inside the warehouse the suspect provided it to Air Canada cargo warehouse attendant a short time later a forklift arrived with a container of gold and foreign currency and loaded it into the rear of the suspect's truck the suspect then drives away at approximately 9:30 p.m. that same evening Brinks Canada employees attended Air Canada cargo to pick up the shipment of gold and currency Air Canada employees tried to locate the container realized it was missing and began an internal investigation at 2:43 a.m. on April 18th 2023 pill Regional Police were contacted and advised the load of stolen gold and currency sorry that that the load of gold and currency had been stolen in total 6,600 gold bars ranging in size and weighing a total of 4.19 kg were stolen each gold bar is 99.9% pure and contained individual individualized serial numbers the gold was valued at approximately $20 million Canadian based on current market value the stolen Bank notes are in foreign currency in various denominations amounting to a value of roughly 2.5 million Canadian dollars investigators from Project 24 Kat conducted a video canvas going door too and business to business reviewing video evidence from surveillance cameras beginning at Air Canada cargo working with community business owners in Peele and Halton region investigators reviewed their video surveillance and believe the truck took the following route after leaving Air Canada cargo westbound on britania Road East Southbound on Dixie Road westbound on Highway 401 we continue to follow the truck and checked each exit that Highway 401 intersects with a Mills Parkway Winston Churchill talga Road the truck does not exit any of these roadways this continues into hton region as the truck passes James snow Parkway and we observe the truck exit at Bronte Road and go Northbound on Bronte Road we continue to follow the truck Northbound on Bronte Road eventually as a truck travels north of Milton it becomes more Rural and we lose sight of the truck this video canvas lasted four weeks with investigators checking over 225 separate businesses and Residences in peel in surrounding areas for video surveillance and then reviewing the surveillance to see if the truck happened to pass over the last year project 24 carat investigators have executed approximately 37 search warrants 70 production ORD and interviewed over 50 individuals during search warrants investigator sees the following items $430,000 in Canadian currency we believe this money is some of the profits the suspects made when they sold the gold six cruy made gold bracelets that resemble Bengals however they lack various principles typically associated with Fine Jewelry these items were sent off for expert examination and are considered to be pure gold the total value of these six gold bracelets is over $889,000 smelting pots casts and molds these are commonly used in the industry to change a composition of gold we believe the items you see here today were used to change the composition of the stolen gold bars to different forms like the bracelets you just saw two de one for 9.94 3 million and the other for 10.23 million a common term in drug traffing investigations we believe these LS these lists actually show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold by the suspects these lists were found at two separate locations and you'll notice we blurred out the names however they are consistent on each list we are working hard to identify each of these individuals some other items on the list they have allocated money for trips supplies and personal items the suspect used a 5ton truck to steal the golden currency from Air Canada cargo as the chief mentioned that truck is behind me today investigators have identified and charged or issued warrants for nine individuals with over 19 charges par Paul sadu a 54-year old man from Bramton and an Air Canada employee EMT l a 40-year-old man from Oakville Ahmad chadri a 43y old man from Georgetown Ali razza a 37y old man from Toronto who also happens to be a jewelry store owner prath paral Lingham a 35-year-old man from Brampton these individuals have been released B on conditions and will appear at the Ontario court of justice in Brampton at a later date Canada wide warrants have been issued for the following individuals simmer and pre panaz are a 31-year-old man from Branton and a former Air Canada employee who was employed at the time of the theft Arch Grover a 36-year-old man from Brampton arsalon chadre a 4 2-y old man from Miss Saga investigators urge these individuals to seek legal counsel and turn themselves into police and finally the driver a warrant has in the first has been issued for dtic King mlan for theft over 5,000 and possession of property obtained by crime I spoke about the fraudulent airway bill when we were alleging the driver produced through forensic examination and through other police techniques we identify King as a driver early on in the investigation for the months that followed in the summer we tried to locate king mlan or his associates that brought us to September in September 2023 Dante King mlan was stopped at a rental vehicle by Pennsylvania State Police near churg Pennsylvania after a brief foot chase he was detained and Troopers located 65 illegal Firearms within the vehicle since his arrest project 24 carat investigators have been leing with the are friends with the ATF we are alleging that some individuals who participate in this gold theft are also involved in aspects of this Firearms trafficking

Channel: National Post

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Length: 9min 38sec (578 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024