The Peel Regional Police quietly acknowledged that millions of dollars worth of gold stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023 had been quickly smuggled out of Canada to the Middle East or South Asia.

The lead investigator, Sgt. Mike Mavity, a member of the Peel Police Services Board, said during a meeting on June 21, "We believe a significant portion has gone overseas to markets stacked with gold."

"It could be in Dubai, or India, where you can take gold with serial numbers, and they will respect it and melt it... We believe this happened very shortly after the incident."

The police have been investigating the low-tech heist for nearly 15 months, tracking how a man entered an Air Canada cargo facility with a forged shipping invoice for a shipment of seafood and then drove away with a truckload of gold bars, but little has been provided in updates to the press or the public.

On the first anniversary of the heist, investigators held a news conference to announce the arrests of nine men in connection with the case and the search for three others.

However, little has been said about the connections between the alleged criminals or what ultimately happened to the 400 kilograms of gold that is still missing.

The new briefing to the Police Services Board—held on Friday without media present—followed an investigation by CBC News that highlighted many unresolved questions about the heist, including the force's assertions that the theft was a case of "reverse engineering." Where gold became weaponized, evidenced by the seizure of 65 handguns. Peel Police declined to grant an interview for this story and refused to answer written questions, even those about the simplest details of the crime.

Police members dedicated several minutes of the meeting to criticizing the CBC News report, but the presentation by investigators affirmed much of what was in the CBC investigation.

“Very small amount” melted down in Mississauga

In addition to acknowledging that the trail now points to Dubai and India, police also admitted that the 6,600 gold bars were worth millions of dollars at the time of the theft, contrary to what they have repeatedly claimed.

Mavity said, "Whether it's $20 million or $34 million may be a mitigating factor at sentencing, but in my opinion, it doesn't change much." "From a police perspective, the crime is theft of more than $5,000."

Investigators also clarified statements made during the April news conference, backtracking on previous implications that all the stolen gold had been melted down in the basement of a jewelry store in Mississauga.

Jordan Oakes said, "We believe a very small amount was melted down at that jewelry store."

Mavity added, "We never claimed at any point that 400 kilograms of gold were manually melted down in a small jewelry store. That was not the message we were trying to convey."

Links between the charged men

For the first time, police identified some alleged connections between the men charged in relation to the heist. Among the new details:

Archit Grover, charged with theft over $5,000 and conspiracy to commit a criminal offense, is an "old friend" of Parmbal Sidhu, who was working at the Air Canada cargo facility at the time of the theft and is now facing similar charges.

Grover is the owner of the white truck used in the heist, and an employer of Durante King-McLean, the man police say was driving the truck. King-McLean also faces a charge of theft over $5,000.

Grover’s cousin, Amit Jalota, who faces two counts of possession of property obtained by crime, along with theft and conspiracy charges, was "looking after the gold" with his "partner" Arslan Chaudhry, who faces the same charges. Police allege that Jalota "also facilitated the melting" of a small amount of gold through Ali Reza, a jewelry store owner in Mississauga, who faces a charge of possession of property obtained by crime.

Prasath Paramalasingam and Ahmad Chaudhry, both facing accessory charges following the incident, are accused of "aiding" King-McLean in crossing into the United States after the heist and "providing him with the ability to stay in the U.S. for a lengthy period of time."

According to the media briefing, police are still investigating the heist, looking for the missing gold and any money that may have been generated from its sale. It was reported that next steps include examining over 40 electronic devices seized from the suspects and issuing production orders to financial institutions for banking records.

The investigation has cost $5.3 million so far.

The board also received an update on the skyrocketing cost of investigating "Project 24 Karat"—$5.3 million to date, with a final price tag estimated at $10 million. So far, the 20 officers assigned to the case have logged 28,000 regular hours and 9,500 hours of overtime.

No additional information was provided in the update regarding the alleged link to weapon smuggling across the border.

Jeff Hirshberg, a criminal defense attorney in Toronto, says he was not surprised by the new information.

"I always question the police narrative. It’s hard not to after seeing everything I’ve seen," he said. "They hold these flashy news conferences... and not everything is revealed once the trial begins."

Hirshberg added, "I've never seen stolen gold involved in any of the gun cases I've handled. And I don't see the link that police are trying to portray here. Time will tell when it will be revealed."