The precious metal, which was being moved through Toronto Pearson International Airport, the country's largest, was being held in a secure facility on the site.

Pearson is where gold that has been mined in the country is frequently held before it is flown overseas. Almost half of the country's air cargo goes through the airport.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have been called in help find out who was behind the robbery, which is about half as large as the Brinks Matt heist in England in 1985 which saw 3,000kg of bullion stolen.

According to the Toronto Sun, police believe that the robbery was likely pulled off by local organised criminal groups. Considering the size of the haul, it is likely a truck was used.

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Crime gangs often look at ports and airports as easy targets as they have a lot of goods always going through them. Police believe that criminal elements are active at Pearson airport.

Bloomberg reported an RCMP spokesperson saying: "We are still trying to get accurate information on the heist."

Whether the robbery was highly planned or an opportunist job, one of the biggest problems the thieves are likely to find is how to offload the stolen gold.

After the Brinks Matt heist, which saw £26m of gold and diamonds stolen from a warehouse near Heathrow Airport (worth £93m in today's prices), those behind the robbery had to melt down the gold to be able to profit from it.