The suspects, including two Air Canada employees, forged an
airway bill to steal a cargo arriving from Switzerland of 6,600
gold bars weighing 400 kg (882 pounds) and C$2.5 million in
foreign currency, police officials said.
Speaking exactly one year after the heist, which took place at
an Air Canada cargo facility at the Toronto Pearson
International Airport, Peel regional police at a press briefing
named the nine suspects and detailed the 19 charges they face.
Five suspects were arrested in Canada and released on bail
pending trial. One suspect, originally from Brampton, Ontario,
was arrested in Pennsylvania along with firearms and remains in
custody in the United States. Canada-wide warrants have been
issued for the remaining three suspects, police said.
Air Canada said it had suspended one cargo division employee
charged in the theft while the other, who worked in the same
department at the time of the heist, had left the airline before
the charges were announced.
"As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability
to comment further," Air Canada said in a statement.
Investigators from the Peel regional police, working with the
U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives,
recovered one kg of gold (2.2 pounds) and about C$434,000 in
Canadian currency.
"We believe that they've melted down the gold and then the
profits they got from the gold, they used to help finance the
firearms," Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity said.
Police also recovered some 65 firearms that investigators allege
were purchased with the proceeds from the theft.
Following the heist, Miami-based transport and security services
provider Brinks sued Air Canada in October, alleging "negligence
and carelessness" by the airline.
Brinks had been hired by Swiss bank Raiffeisen Schweiz and
precious metals refining company Valcambi to move the valuables
from Zurich to Toronto.
($1 = 1.3798 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by KyawSoe Oo in Brampton, Ontario and Ismail Shakil
in Ottawa; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Sandra Maler)
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