The robbery is the largest gold theft since July 2019, when $30 million was stolen from an airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
On Thursday, Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn said the container with the gold arrived on a plane early Monday evening. He would not say where it came from.
The plane was unloaded, and its cargo taken to a holding facility. Duivesteyn said the container was ‘removed by illegal means,’ and reported missing shortly after the plane was unloaded.
‘An aircraft arrived here at the airport in the early evening. As per normal procedure, the aircraft was unloaded and cargo was transported from the aircraft to a holding cargo facility,’ he said.
It is not known if the gold remains in the country.
The Ottawa Sun reported that the gold may have been shipped into Toronto from a mine in Northern Ontario for one of the banks.
Duivesteyn said police had not yet confirmed the thieves were a professional gang, but the investigation is ongoing.
The Toronto Sun reported that organized criminal gangs were suspected of being behind the theft.
‘We feel this to be an isolated incident,’ said Duivesteyn.
‘Therefore, for the traveling public that are concerned about coming and flying out, they should have no concern. We do not consider this to be a public safety matter.’ Duivesteyn said the theft was ‘very rare’.
It is the largest airport heist since the Brazilian robbery in 2019. The suspects entered Guarulhos airport in São Paulo dressed as police officers and took the gold, which had been destined for New York and Zurich.
In the space of less than three minutes, eight armed men disguised as agents who had arrived in two fake police vans stole the gold without firing a shot.
The thieves took two security guards hostage and the family of one of them to force their help, according to police reports.
The cargo was heavy and the thieves decided to use airport employees and some trucks to get it into one of the vans before they fled.
Hours later, the hostages were released and the vehicles were located abandoned in Sao Paulo.
Three people have since been arrested – all of them airport employees.
