Pearson gold heist suspect arrested after flying into Toronto from India

Another suspect is in custody in connection with the gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport last year while a former Air Canada employee involved in the scheme remains outstanding, police say.

In a news release on Thursday, police said Archit Grover, a 36-year-old man from Brampton, was arrested on May 6.

He was taken into custody after flying into Toronto from India and arrested for theft over $5000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

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Grover is also being indicted in the United States for firearm-related charges, police said.

Peel Regional Police identified and charged or issued warrants for ten individuals, laying over 21 charges last month.

Police announced the charges at a press conference one year after the largest gold heist in Canadian history.

Archit Grover was arrested on May 6 after flying into Toronto Pearson Airport. On April 17, 2023, a flight landed at the Toronto area airport from Zurich, Switzerland. Onboard, there were 6,600 gold bars of 99.9 per cent purity that weighed more than 400 kilograms, which police valued at $20 million, along with CAD $2.5 million in foreign currency.

Shortly after landing, a suspect arrived in a five-tonne delivery truck at Air Canada’s cargo facility and obtained the valuable freight by showing a fake air waybill to a warehouse attendant.

A forklift then arrived and loaded the stolen gold and currency into the back of the truck, according to investigators. The suspect then drove off with the gold.

Just before 3 a.m., Air Canada employees reported the cargo was missing and Peel police launched an investigation. 

Canada-wide warrants are still issued for four suspects, including Simran Preet Panesar, a 31-year-old who was working for Air Canada at the time of the heist, Peel police said. He is wanted for theft over $5000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Arsalan Chaudhary, a 42-year-old man of no fixed address, and Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old man from Brampton, are wanted for the same offences, in addition to two counts of possession of property obtained by crime for Chaudhary.

Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old man from Brampton, is currently in U.S. custody on firearms trafficking-related charges. Investigators say they have been in touch with him and his legal counsel.