Canadian authorities think they’ve unravelled the largest gold heist in the country’s history – but by their own admission, much of their progress appears to have been accidental and largely due to the work of their American counterparts.
The $20-million gold and cash theft from Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023 had baffled Canadian investigators for months, with little progress toward solving the audacious crime. That changed when an entirely separate U.S.-led gun smuggling investigation inadvertently cracked the case wide open.
Enter Durante King-McLean, a Brampton man accused of trafficking firearms across the border. He is now the only Pearson airport heist suspect currently in custody.
According to a U.S. indictment, King-Mclean was stopped by Pennsylvania State Police just after midnight on September 2, 2023, about 300 kilometres east of Pittsburgh.
A state trooper, noticing King-Mclean’s grey Nissan “driving suspiciously,” reported that the vehicle touched both the fog line and the white line on the edge of the highway several times within seconds.
After pulling him over, officers searched the vehicle and discovered dozens of illegal firearms.
Authorities further alleged that King-Mclean, who was in the U.S. illegally from Canada, fled on foot when troopers discovered the firearms in his rental vehicle. A court-authorized search warrant of the vehicle led to the recovery of 65 firearms. allegedly destined to be illegally smuggled into Canada.
His arrest quickly drew the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in September 2023, which soon found their case expanding into something far more extensive than they had anticipated.
Canadian authorities, working with their U.S. counterparts, discovered that King-McLean was likely linked to suspects allegedly involved in fencing the stolen gold.
Further investigation showed that King-Mclean was likely working as the getaway driver during the heist, a theory that was allegedly solidified by fingerprints left behind at the scene.
It was their first major break in the case.
Notably, King-McLean remains the only suspect held in custody with a set trial date—in the United States, not in Canada.
Meanwhile, all of those charged in Canada have been released on bail, and according to multiple sources, two suspects have already left Canada.
And so, what started as a routine gun trafficking probe in the U.S. turned into an international caper involving smuggled gold, money laundering, and the exposure of security vulnerabilities at one of Canada’s largest transportation hubs.
For months, the disappearance of gold bullion from Pearson—a major hub for international cargo—remained unsolved, with investigators seemingly at a loss.