Contained in a nondescript crate, the gold was sent from a Swiss precious-metals refinery for delivery at a TD Bank in Toronto. It never made it there.

How to Steal $40 Million Without Really Trying

A gang of amateur thieves stole 6,600 gold bars from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in 2023. Two years later, the loot is nowhere to be found

By Harold von Kursk

On April 17, 2023, Air Canada Flight 881 departed Zurich on time, for a scheduled arrival at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at four P.M. Eastern Standard Time.

This was no ordinary flight. In addition to the 300-plus passengers on board, the Boeing 777 was carrying precious cargo in the form of 6,600 gold bars, worth approximately $15 million at the time (a figure that has since nearly tripled, with the increase in the price of gold, surpassing $40 million).