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Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah in April flanked by investigators and the truck used in the robbery. By Richard Lautens Toronto Star
Police have arrested and charged a seventh person in connection to the theft of $24 million in gold from Pearson International Airport last year, the largest gold theft in Canadian history.
Archit Grover, 36, was arrested by Peel Regional Police after arriving at Pearson Airport on a flight from India on Monday.
Police say Grover, a Brampton resident, is charged with theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.
He is the seventh person to be arrested in connection to the heist, which police say involved a group including two Air Canada employees and a Toronto jewelry store owner plotting to steal 400 kilograms in gold from an airport warehouse. Canada-wide warrants have been issued for two other individuals, including a former Air Canada manager who quit his post last summer.
When police announced the first arrests in April, they identified nine individuals connected with the heist. Those identified were arrested or had warrants issued for their arrest, with more than 19 charges between them including theft over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, accessory after the fact of an indictable offence. In the United States, some are charged with firearms trafficking, and one is facing charges of aiding, abetting and conspiracy.
Those arrested so far include Parmpal Sidhu, Amit Jalota, Ammad Chaudhary, Ali Raza, and Prasath Paramalingam. Durante King-Mclean is currently in custody in the United States.
When reached by the Star, Pearson International Airport declined to comment.
The heist is the largest gold theft in Canadian history, and police say it is the sixth largest in the world. Just $90,000 worth of the stolen gold has been recovered in an investigation police have called Project 24K.
In April 2023, a man used a phoney waybill to gain access to a warehouse near Pearson Airport — and walked out with 6,600 gold bars valued at $20 million and the equivalent of $4 million in foreign cash, police say.
A major break in the police investigation came last fall, when U.S. authorities in Pennsylvania pulled over a man from Brampton, driving a rented vehicle with 65 illegal firearms. Police believe the driver, now detained in an American jail, purchased the firearms with proceeds from the gold heist and had intended them for sale on the black market in Canada.
This is a developing story.
来源链接：
https://www.toronto.com/news/peel-police-make-seventh-arrest-in-connection-with-24-million-pearson-gold-heist/article_21f9e350-7e07-5ef1-8af5-6df52e9e7e77.html
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