Authorities announce major bust in Canada's biggest gold heist ever

Peel Regional Police and the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau will announce details and arrests made concerning the theft of gold from Pearson International Airport in Toronto, April 17, 2024. Peel Regional Police

(TORONTO) — Authorities arrested one of the alleged masterminds in the biggest gold heist in Canadian history Monday morning as he landed at the same airport where the caper occurred in April 2023.

Arsalan Chaudhary was taken into custody at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as he arrived on a flight from Dubai, police in Peel told ABC News. He is charged with theft over $5,000, two counts of possession of property obtained by crime and conspiracy to commit an indictable offense.

Chaudhary is one of the final suspects to be captured in the wide-ranging probe – dubbed “Project 24 Carat” — stemming from the theft of 6,600 gold bars worth nearly $15 million.

Peel investigators believe that Chaudhary was responsible for helping to move the gold after it was stolen. The precious metal has not been recovered and is thought to have been melted and moved to various buyers.

The theft is believed to have been an inside job, officials said. Still wanted is a former Air Canada employee thought to have played a critical role in the caper.

One of the suspects was arrested in 2024 in Pennsylvania.

In 2024, police seized $312,000 worth of cash, which they believe is some of the profits suspects made after selling the gold. Police also seized smelting pots, casts and molds, which they believe were used to change the composition of the gold bars, Peel Regional Police Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said at an April 2024 press conference.

The gold and foreign currency stolen in the heist were ordered from a refinery in Zurich. They had been transported on an Air Canada flight to Toronto.

Shortly after the plane landed on April 17, 2023, the gold and cargo were transported from the plane to a cargo facility, Mavity said.

A suspect driving a five-ton truck arrived at the facility later that evening, providing a fraudulent airway bill to a cargo warehouse attendant and receiving the shipment. The airway bill was a duplicate of one used the previous day to pick up a shipment of seafood, Mavity said.

The container containing the gold and foreign currency was then loaded onto the truck and the suspect drove away. The container was discovered missing later that night after Brink’s Canada employees arrived to pick up the container, Mavity said.