There's been an utterly baffling airport gold heist, worth
20 million dollars in Toronto, Canada — and so far, it looks like the crew got away clean.
The high-value shipment of gold and other assets had just arrived on a flight from Switzerland and
was unloaded on the runway by Brink's security. And then it disappeared; just gone, gone, gone.
The Mob Reporter here with my continuing investigation into this month's perplexing
score of a lifetime, with exclusive details from an array of well-placed sources. It's a story of
secret tunnels, high finance, subterfuge, and probably corruption. Let me tell you about it.
Every day around 4 p.m., a flight from Zurich, a Swiss financial center, lands at Toronto's
Pearson International Airport. On Monday, April 17, 2023, that plane arrived nine minutes early.
On board that plane was an air freight container stuffed with more than 20 million dollars worth
of gold and other valuables. The shipment was destined for a large Canadian bank — I'm
told the TD bank — but it never arrived. As I document in my investigation of the heist
for the National Post, the plane taxied to an arrivals gate at the airport's Terminal 1.
An armored car from Brinks, the famous U.S.-based private security company, was cleared to enter
the airport's security zone to meet the plane on the tarmac, and collect its precious cargo.
The container was about the size of a large desk and because it was an international arrival, the
container had to pass through Canada Customs. Now to get to a cargo holding facility, the
Brinks truck drove through a long tunnel. It travels beneath the runways as a secure
shortcut to the other side of the airport. You can catch a glimpse of the tunnel's entrance
here, near the terminal. And here's a glimpse of the tunnel's exit, near the cargo facility.
The paved tunnel is 560 meters long, that's more than 1,800 feet. There is no public access and it
begins and ends inside the airport's secure red zone. At the other end of the tunnel is what's
called Cargo West. It's a cargo processing and holding facility at the perimeter of the
airport. Sources say the gold was turned over to the cargo facility by Brinks guards there.
This seems to be the key crime scene in this score. There are dozens of loading docks at
Cargo West. It's an immense facility, open 24 hours a day. I've been there, it's a busy place.
Here it is on the outside, in photos taken this week by my Post colleague.
Cargo enters the facility on the secure side but the public has access to the facility
from the other side. That's where arriving cargo is picked up by customers.
And here is what it looks like inside. It's pretty big and a little chaotic. Armored car companies can
pick up shipments from this public side, although the loading bays are typically filled by transport
trucks, rental vans, and personal vehicles. This is the last place the gold was accounted for.
Nothing suggests it was a stick-em-up robbery or strong-arm heist. Everything suggests it was
an inside job. No balaclavas or guns. Rather, stolen by subterfuge, deception or corruption.
Probably all three. Someone knew ahead of time what was in the shipment, and when and where it
was landing. Someone needed a crew, resources, and huge balls to scoop it. And someone needed to have
the resources to move it and dispose of it. That's a lot of someones. I spoke with the guy who was once
the officer-in-charge of the airport policing unit. He floated the idea that it might have required
a fake Brinks truck and fake guards wearing Brinks uniforms. If that's the case, it would
presumably all be caught on security camera. Hopefully one day I can get it and show it to
you. In the meantime, Brinks confirmed to me it was coordinating the shipment; Air Canada isn't saying
anything'; and TD Bank isn't saying anything. And Peel Regional Police, who are investigating the heist,
aren't saying much, other than that it was "removed by illegal means." As for the gold, well, there's a
good chance it's already been melted down to thwart identification. Or it might already be
shipped out of the country. There might be arrests, but less likely there'll be recovery. Please share
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