A container loaded with gold and other valuable items worth at least $20 million Canadian (more than $14.8 million), was stolen Monday from Toronto’s Pearson Airport, Canada.

The police said the cargo arrived in an aircraft early in the evening, Peel Regional Police inspector Stephen Duivesteyn told reporters on Thursday.

CBS News reported that the container was then unloaded and transported to a holding facility, in accordance with the airport’s standard procedures for air cargo.

Sometime after this, the nearly five-square-foot container was “removed by illegal means” and reported missing to the police shortly afterwards.

“The container contained a high-value shipment. It did contain gold, but was not exclusive to gold, and contained other items of monetary value,” Duivesteyn said.

Police were unable to confirm the cargo’s final destination, nor if the theft was connected to prearranged crime or professional thieves. They also were not sure if the gold is still in the country.

Inspector Duivesteyn stressed that while this category of the heist is “very rare,” it was an isolated incident that poses no ongoing threat to public safety, adding that operations at Pearson would continue to run normally.

“The GTAA wishes to clarify that thieves accessed the public side of a warehouse that is leased to a third party, outside of our primary security line.

“This did not involve access to Toronto Pearson itself and did not pose a threat to passengers or GTAA staff,” the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson, said in a statement to CBS News. (Vanguard)

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