Cops: Mastermind of 'Project 24 Karat' Arrested in Toronto

Canada's biggest gold robbery just looped back to where it began. Police on Monday arrested a man they describe as one of the brains behind the 2023 Pearson International Airport heist as he stepped off a flight from Dubai at the Toronto airport. Peel Regional Police say 43-year-old Arsalan Chaudhary is accused of helping move 6,600 gold bars worth about $14.8 million at the time after they vanished from an Air Canada cargo facility on April 17, 2023, per ABC News. Chaudhary faces charges including theft over $5,000, possession of property obtained by crime, and conspiracy.

Police say that Chaudhary, through his attorneys, arranged to turn himself in even before landing in Toronto, though authorities aren't sure what drove his surrender, per the CBC. The theft, probed in an investigation code-named "Project 24 Karat," unfolded after a shipment of gold and foreign currency left a Zurich refinery and arrived in Toronto on an Air Canada flight, per ABC. According to police, the cargo was moved to a warehouse, where later that evening a suspect in a 5-ton truck showed up with a fake airway bill—essentially a cloned document previously used for a seafood shipment. The container was released to the driver and only flagged as missing when Brink's Canada staff came to collect it that evening.

Authorities believe the operation leaned heavily on insider access: A former Air Canada employee, still at large, is suspected of playing a key role. Investigators say the gold itself is likely long gone in its original form, melted down and sold off to multiple buyers. In 2024, police seized about $312,000 in cash, along with smelting pots, molds, and casts that they say were used to transform the bars.

One suspect was arrested in Pennsylvania that year as the probe widened across borders. Chaudhary's capture is among the final arrests tied to the case, but the central mystery remains unresolved: Police have yet to publicly identify where they think the gold ended up, or who might still be profiting from Canada's most audacious airport heist. Although the gold bars were worth around $15 million at the time, the price of gold "has more than doubled since then and is trading at record highs," per Bloomberg.