Pair from Oakville, Georgetown charged in $20 million gold heist at Pearson Airport
Published April 17, 2024 at 1:43 pm
Two men from Oakville and Georgetown are among six arrested in connection to the cash and gold heist that took place at Pearson Airport in Mississauga last year.
All those arrested have since been released by promising to appear in court at a later date.
Police today (April 17) revealed details of the year-long hunt for the stolen gold and subsequent arrests in what they describe as the largest robbery of its kind in Canadian history.
Events at the airport unfolded on April 17, 2023, in an Air Canada cargo facility.
Shortly after a flight from Switzerland landed with the gold and cash cargo, two men allegedly used their positions inside the Air Canada warehouse to set the crime in motion, police said.
Using paperwork related to a shipment of seafood that had arrived the previous day, the men are believed to have prepared the shipment of gold and cash for transfer onto a truck that had backed up to a port at the cargo facility.
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A warehouse worker used a forklift to load the valuables onto the large vehicle which then casually drove away from the airport and headed to Highway 401, police said.
A short time later, after leaving the highway near Oakville, the truck and its driver — and the 6,600 stolen gold bars worth more than $20 million in Canadian funds in addition to $2.5 million (Canadian) in foreign cash — disappeared north of Milton.
Police received a break in the case last September when they were able to link a gun smuggling arrest in Pennsylvania to the Pearson heist.
So far just $90,000 worth of the gold has been recovered as police continue their investigation and search for more suspects that they believe are connected to the case. Investigators said it’s nearly impossible to track down gold bars, which can be quickly melted down to become untraceable and then used by criminals to purchase guns and drugs that can be sold for more profit.
Among those arrested are Amit Jalota, 40, of Oakville who has been charged with two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Ammad Chaudhary, 43, of Georgetown is also charged with accessory after the fact of an indictable offence.
None of the charges have been proven in court.
Meanwhile, Air Canada faces a lawsuit from U.S.-based security services company Brink’s, the owner of the gold and cash. Canada’s flagship airline has said it bears no responsibility for the theft and in an earlier statement of defence it rejected all allegations in the Brink’s suit.