$14.8M in gold stolen from YYZ cargo warehouse

Canadian investigators have no leads in a $14.8 million theft of gold and other commodities from the Toronto Pearson International Airport . In the early evening of April 17, a container mostly filled with gold disappeared from a cargo warehouse where it was being stored, Peel Regional Police Inspector Stephen Duivesteyn said in a press conference Thursday. [caption id="attachment_93761" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo/Toronto Pearson Airport[/caption] The shipment was transported from an aircraft to a warehouse for storage. Officials declined to identify the carrier. The news was first reported by the Toronto Sun , which said an internal memo pointed to Air Canada as the airline responsible for transporting the shipment. “This high-value container was removed by illegal means from a holding facility,” Duivesteyn said. “This cargo was reported to the Peel Regional Police a short time later and an investigation has commenced.” No threat to YYZ, officials say While the shipment contained at least some gold, officials said there were other valuable items in the crate. Royal Canadian Mounted Police officials declined to speak on the subject to Air Cargo Next and referred questions to the Peel Regional Police, the second largest municipal police department in Ontario. “ We are unable to provide specific information at this time in order to maintain the integrity of the investigation; however, what I can say is that there is no threat to public safety, and there was no disruption to the day-to-day activities at Pearson International Airport as a result,” the Peel Regional Police told Air Cargo Next . Toronto Pearson International (YYZ) officials also did not respond to requests by Air Cargo Next released a statement regarding the theft Thursday. “The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is aware of the theft that took place this week. The GTAA wishes to clarify that thieves accessed the public side of a warehouse that is leased to a third party, outside of our primary security line,” it announced in a press release. “This did not involve access to Toronto Pearson itself and did not pose a threat to passengers or GTAA staff.” Duivesteyn said in the news conference that the stolen goods came from a single container that was “about 6 feet [in dimension], like a regular-sized shipping container.” When asked if it was possible the crime was committed by a sophisticated crime group, officials said their “eyes are open to all avenues.” “We’re kind of keeping a broad outlook on it, and we’re looking at all angles on how this item was stolen,” Duivesteyn said. Security measures All air cargo traveling to the country must be electronically logged at least four hours before arriving, according to Canada Border Services . Air Canada ensures security of high-value goods with its AC Secure protections, according to Air Canada Cargo’s website. “AC Secure is designed specifically to ensure the safe and secure transportation of goods with a known value of C/US$1,000/kg or more, or when a shipper purchases insurance in the same amount per kilogram, regardless of the commodity,” the website states. These provisions include secured holding areas and handling, coordination of third-party security guards, higher loading priority, efficient transport and handling processes, specific tender and retrieval times, and shipment tracking, according to the website. YYZ is the largest airport in airport in Canada by throughput by throughput, with more than half of the nation’s cargo transported through the airport, according to the airport’s website. Likewise, gold is in the top three commodities imported and exported from the country, per the Observatory of Economic Complexity . Duivesteyn said the department believes the incident was isolated and no travelers are in danger. “We’re three days in. ... Our goal right now is to solve this theft, so a lot of the finer details I’m not able to provide because we just want to solve this,” he said.

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