Cargo container with $15 million in gold and other valuables stolen from Toronto airport, police say

By Paula Newton, CNN

An air cargo container carrying more than $15 million in gold and other valuables disappeared from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport Monday, and police are still trying to find out who is behind the high-value heist.

The aircraft was unloaded and cargo was taken to a holding facility early Monday evening, “as per normal procedure,” said Stephen Duivesteyn of Peel Regional Police at a Thursday news conference at the airport.

Then, “this high-value container was removed by illegal means from the holding facility,” he said.

Police would not say whether security cameras captured the heist, which airline company transported the container or who owns the container.

“What I can say is that the container contained a high-value shipment, it did contain gold but was not exclusive to gold and contained other items of monetary value,” said Duivesteyn, estimating the contents are worth about $15 million ($20 million Canadian dollars).

Police would not speculate on whether this was a “professional” job, saying it was too early in the investigation.

“We’re three days in, so our investigators have their eyes open to all avenues. So we don’t want to make an error and sort of focus on one particular area, we’re kind of keeping a broad outlook on it, so we’re looking on all angles on how this item was stolen,” said Duivesteyn.

The container was described as 5 or 6 square feet in size.

“I would suggest this is an isolated incident. This is very rare,” said Duivesteyn, adding that the investigation is not expected to disrupt any operations at the airport, which claims to be Canada’s busiest.

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