‘Project 24K’ a secret, joint investigation into the high-profile theft from Pearson airport has made arrests in the theft of gold bars and US$2 million in cash
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Three Ontario men and a person from Florida have been arrested in connection to the $20-million Toronto Pearson airport gold heist after U.S. agents uncovered a cross-border gun trafficking plot linked to the heist, National Post has learned.
Police will announce details Wednesday on “Project 24K” — a secret, joint investigation into the high-profile theft of gold from Pearson airport. 24K is short for 24 carats, the measurement for nearly pure gold, which is usually the purity of high-grade gold bars, such as the ones stolen from Pearson.
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Three men from Brampton, Ont., identified in U.S. court documents as Durante King-Mclean, 25, Prasath Paramalingam, 34, and Archit Grover, 36, as well as Jalisa Edwards, 25, from Ft. Lauderdale, FL, have been indicted in the United States for a conspiracy to engage in international firearms trafficking.
The arrests are linked to the Toronto gold heist, according to law enforcement sources.
The U.S. involvement began on Sept. 2, 2023, when King-Mclean was stopped in a Nissan Sentra for suspected motor vehicle violations. Officers alleged he was in the United States illegally and he fled on foot, authorities said.
A search of the vehicle found 65 guns, allegedly destined to be smuggled into Canada, an indictment in the U.S. alleges. Two were fully automatic, 11 had been stolen, and one had an obliterated serial number, U.S. officials said.
Authorities claim Paramalingam was involved in the gun conspiracy since April 2023 — around the time of the gold heist — with others to arrange for King-Mclean’s illegal entry into the United States. Paramalingam also allegedly helped fund the trip. Grover and Edwards are charged as accessories after the fact for alleged assistance to conceal evidence.
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The nexus of the alleged gun running to the gold heist is unclear, but sources say the gun case led to the gold case link. It is not known if there have been additional arrests.
Details of arrests and circumstances of the theft of more than $20-million in gold bars and US$2 million in cash are expected to be released Wednesday morning, the anniversary of the baffling heist.
Journalists have been invited to a media conference at 8:30 a.m. in Brampton where Peel police Chief Nishan Duraiappah is expected to be joined by Peel Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity, and ATF Special Agent-in-Charge Eric DeGree. DeGree’s office handled the gun running case.
The shock Toronto airport heist of $20 million in gold bars — weighing 400.19 kilograms — along with US$2 million in cash was as easy as walking into Air Canada’s cargo facility, showing a false waybill, and leaving with the enormous haul, according to a lawsuit filed in court.
It was gone 42 minutes after it was unloaded from a plane arriving from Switzerland and transferred to a supposedly secure warehouse on the periphery of Toronto’s Pearson airport, according to the statement of claim filed in October by Brink’s, the U.S-based security firm who was moving the container of gold and cash via Air Canada.
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The container was unloaded directly from an Air Canada jet arriving from Switzerland onto a Brink’s security truck while on the airport tarmac and taken to an Air Canada cargo holding facility on the other side of the airport, known as Cargo West.
Brink’s claims Air Canada provided woeful security despite knowing the high-value contents of the load.
Air Canada denies responsibility for the theft in a statement of defence filed in court in response to Brink’s claim.
The airline denies lax security and negligence allowed the cargo to be collected by an unknown and unauthorized person less than an hour after arriving at its warehouse on the periphery of the airport. The airline alleges Brink’s shipped the cargo without declaring its value, without insurance, and without paying extra for additional security.
None of the allegations have been proven in court.
Other than the two lawsuits, there had been little information about the mysterious, high-profile theft until the media conference was called.
Const. Mandeep Khatra, a spokesman for Peel police said the information will only be available on Wednesday.
“I don’t have any information right now, nothing at all,” Khatra said.
• Email: ahumphreys@postmedia.com | X: AD_Humphreys
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