What we know and don't know about the $20M heist at Toronto Pearson

About $20 million worth of gold and other high-value goods were revealed to have been stolen at a holding cargo facility at Toronto Pearson International Airport this week, according to police.

On Thursday evening, Peel Regional Police held a press conference to shed some light on the theft that happened Monday – but there are many unanswered questions about what exactly happened.

What we know so far

According to Peel police, a container was stolen from a holding cargo facility after it was taken off a plane that touched down at Toronto Pearson early Monday night.

Insp. Stephen Duivesteyn said during Wednesday’s announcement after the cargo was offloaded in the facility, it was removed from the area through “illegal means.” This “high-value container” was carrying gold and other undisclosed high-value goods, worth $20 million in total.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) confirmed to CTV News Toronto in a brief statement they are aware of the theft that occurred earlier 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," the statement reads. "This did not involve access to Toronto Pearson itself and did not pose a threat to passengers or GTAA staff."

Duivesteyn confirmed the missing goods were reported to the police shortly after, and that Peel Regional Police are actively investigating the matter.

@ctvnewstoronto A total of $20 million worth of gold and other high-value goods was stolen in a heist on Monday after being offloaded from an aircraft at Toronto Pearson International Airport, Peel police says. @Janice Golding on what we know. #ctvnews #ctvnewstoronto #toronto #ctvtoronto #news #explore #foryou #fyp #ontario #canada #gta #police #investigation #peelpolice #peelregion #mississauga #newstiktok #pearsonairport #pearson #torontopearson #torontopearsonairport #heist #goldheist #rcmp ♬ original sound - ctvnewstoronto

What we don’t know

Police would not provide specifics, noting they are only three days into their investigation of the stolen goods.

As of Thursday night, no arrests have been made, and police did not disclose any suspect information. Details regarding the other high-value goods recovered in the container were not provided either.

Duivesteyn could not provide a comment as to where the gold and other goods were headed to.

But, he believes it is an isolated incident and does not consider it a public safety matter.

“This is very rare,” Duivesteyn said, adding it’s too early to know if the theft was professionally done.

With files from CTV News Toronto’s Sean Davidson, Janice Golding and Phil Tsekouras