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Canadian police say 9 people will be charged after $20 million worth of gold was stolen last year from airport

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Police said nine people are facing charges in what authorities are calling the biggest gold theft in Canadian history from Toronto’s Pearson International airport a year ago.

Peel Regional Police said Wednesday that 6,600 gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14.5 million) and CA$2.5 million ($1.8 million) was stolen and the gold was melted down and used to purchase illegal firearms.

Those charged include a Air Canada warehouse employee and a former Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of cargo of the facility after the theft. A jewelry store owner is also charged.

TORONTO AIRPORT HEIST: $15M CONTAINER OF GOLD, VALUABLE ITEMS STOLEN FROM CARGO FACILITY

«This story is a sensational one and which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,» Peel Regional Chief Nishan Duraiappah said.

Canada Pearson Heist

Police in Canada announced that 9 individuals will be facing charges following the country’s largest gold theft, in which 6,600 gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars were stolen from Toronto’s Pearson International airport last year. (Arlyn McAdorey/The Canadian Press via AP)

Peel Reginal Detective Sgt. Mike Mavity said the gold bars, weighing 419 kilograms (923 pounds), and foreign currency, ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland, were transported in the haul of a Air Canada flight on April 17 last year.

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He said that late afternoon a truck driver arrived at the airline’s cargo warehouse with a fraudulent bill that was provided to a airline warehouse attendant.

Mavity said a bill for seafood that was picked up the day before was used to pick up the gold. The duplicate bill was printed off at the Air Canada warehouse, he said.

«They needed people within Air Canada to facilitate this theft,» Mavity said in front of the truck police say was used in the theft.

Mavity said police are searching for the Air Canada manager who gave police a tour of the facility in the days after the theft. He said that manager left his job last summer and said they have an idea of where he is.

Mavity said some of the suspects were known to police and some were not. He said they seized six crudely made bracelets made of gold.

«I don’t think I ever imagined they would have to deal with the largest gold heist in Canadian history,» said Patrick Brown, the mayor of Brampton, Ontario. «It’s almost out of an ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ movie or CSI.»

Air Canada employee Parmpal Sidhu, 54, from Brampton, Ontario, jewelry store owner Ali Raza, 37, from Toronto, Amit Jalota, 40, a Oakville, Ontario resident, Ammad Chaudhary, 43, from Georgetown, Ontario and Prasath Paramalingam, 35, from Brampton are among those that have been arrested. Mavity said they have been released on bail conditions and will be in court at a later date.

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US MARINE ARRESTED IN TEXAS AFTER STEALING OVER $500,000 IN JEWELRY, AUTHORITIES SAY

Mavity said the truck driver that allegedly picked up the gold, Durante King-Mclean, a 25-year-old from Brampton, is currently in custody in the U.S. on firearms and trafficking related charges.

Police are searching for former Air Canada manager Simran Preet Panesar, 31, from Brampton as well as Archit Grover, 36, from Brampton and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42, from Mississauga Ontario.

Peel Regional Deputy Chief Nick Milinovich said only CA$90,000 ($65,00) of the more than CA$20 million has been recovered.

U.S. ATF Special Agent, Eric DeGree, said King-Mclean, was arrested in Pennsylvania after a traffic stop and that led to the seizure of 65 illegal firearms that were allegedly destined to be smuggled into Canada. DeGree said he tried to flee after police discovered the firearms in his rental car.

Brinks, an American cash handling company, arrived at the airport cargo facility the night of April 17 to pick up the gold and were told the gold and currency was missing after a search.

Brinks sued Air Canada over the theft last year. According to the company’s filing last year, a thief walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a fake document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17.

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In a Nov. 8 statement of defense, Air Canada rejected «each and every allegation» in the Brink’s lawsuit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or «careless» conduct.

CANADIAN POLICE WARN THAT POSTING VIDEOS OF ALLEGED PACKAGE THIEVES COULD BE ‘VIOLATION’ OF THEIR PRIVACY

The country’s largest airline also said Brink’s failed to note the value of the haul on the waybill — a document typically issued by a carrier with details of the shipment — and that if Brink’s did suffer losses, a multilateral treaty known as the Montreal Convention would cap Air Canada’s liability.

In Federal Court filings that claim breach of contract and millions of dollars in damages, Brinks said an «unidentified individual» gained access to the airline’s cargo warehouse and presented a «fraudulent» waybill shortly after an Air Canada flight from Zurich landed at Pearson.

The statement of the claim says the staff then handed over 400 kilograms of gold in the form of 24 bars plus nearly $2 million in cash to the thief, who promptly «absconded with the cargo.»

DeGree said dozens of firearms authorities were seized, including two fully automatic weapons and five guns that were untraceable.

«I’m proud to say that we successfully put an international gun trafficking operation out of business. We kept 65 firearms off the streets of Canada and prevented them from being used in any number of crimes,» DeGree said.

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Mavity said that «we believe they melted down the gold and with the profits they got from the gold they used to purchase illegal firearms.»

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Roma: reabrió la Fontana di Trevi después de varias semanas de limpieza

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La famosa Fontana di Trevi reabrió oficialmente después de varias semanas de limpieza, y el municipio decidió limitar a partir de ahora el número de visitantes simultáneos a 400, anunció este domingo el alcalde de Roma, Roberto Gualtieri.

«Podrán estar aquí 400 personas a la vez. El objetivo es permitir que todos disfruten lo mejor posible de la fuente, sin multitudes ni confusión», dijo Gualtieri frente a la fuente, famosa por la película «La Dolce Vita», de Federico Fellini, con Anita Ekberg y Marcello Mastroianni.

Añadió que esta cifra podría modificarse eventualmente después de una fase de prueba, cuya duración no precisó.

El alcalde de la capital italiana también indicó que el municipio estudiará la posibilidad de instaurar «una pequeña entrada» para financiar, entre otras cosas, el mantenimiento de la fuente.

Claudio Parisi Presicce, responsable de los bienes culturales del Ayuntamiento de Roma, precisó a AFP-TV que los trabajos en los monumentos municipales, se realizan con el objetivo «devolver a la ciudad la mayor parte de ellos antes del inicio del Jubileo» de la Iglesia católica, que comienza el 24 de diciembre.

En la fuente de Trevi «los trabajos duraron tres meses, con un gran esfuerzo conjunto que nos permitió terminar las obras antes de lo previsto. Fue un trabajo minucioso de limpieza, eliminación de elementos de degradación, maleza e incrustaciones de cal», añadió Presicce.

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La gente observa la Fontana di Trevi y toma fotografías mientras vuelve a abrir al público después de someterse a mantenimiento, en Roma, Italia. Foto EFE

La ceremonia de este domingo tuvo lugar bajo una suave lluvia, con la presencia de varios cientos de turistas, muchos de los cuales imitaron al alcalde, lanzando una moneda a la fuente.

Tradicionalmente, los numerosos turistas -entre 10.000 y 12.000 por día hasta ahora- lanzan monedas en la fuente y, en condiciones normales, las autoridades recuperan cada semana aproximadamente 10.000 euros (10.405 dólares) destinados a la organización benéfica Caritas.

La visita se regulará de la siguiente manera: todos los días de 9 a 21 horas (último acceso a las 20.30 horas); los lunes y viernes a partir de las 11 horas para permitir las operaciones de recogida de monedas; cada segundo lunes de 14 a 21 horas para vaciado y limpieza del tanque. A su vez, acceso gratuito a partir de las 21 horas.

En la entrada, salida y en el interior del monumento habrá personal dedicado a la recepción y seguridad. El servicio está encomendado a ZeŠtema Progetto Cultura. Los visitantes podrán circular libremente por los espacios del vaso de la fuente, pero no podrán sentarse en el borde de la piscina, comer, beber ni fumar.

En los paneles informativos de la entrada y en los tótems de los laterales de la plaza hay un código QR que permite obtener información histórica de la fuente.

«La intervención de hoy es doble, sobre las fuentes, que son numerosas y complejas, una intervención necesaria, importante, y también ahora podemos ver mejor los colores del mármol. Pero también una oportunidad para la innovación: la controversia se resolvió sola», afirmó Gualtieri, durante la inauguración de la Fontana.

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