The man accused of driving the getaway truck in the infamous $20-million gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport is set to plead guilty to firearms trafficking charges in the United States, according to newly filed court documents.
Durante King-McLean, a Brampton resident, was identified by Peel Regional Police as the driver of a delivery truck that vanished with 6,600 gold bars and approximately $2.5 million in foreign currency from an Air Canada cargo facility on April 17, 2023. The stolen valuables had arrived from Zurich earlier that day, transported in the cargo hold of an Air Canada flight.
Despite being publicly identified in the weeks following the heist, King-McLean evaded capture throughout the summer. He was ultimately arrested in September 2023 in Pennsylvania, where U.S. authorities found him driving a rental vehicle containing 65 illegal firearms. Investigators on both sides of the border have long suspected a connection between the Pearson gold theft and the cache of weapons.
Now facing charges in the United States, King-McLean has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms—a federal offence carrying a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. The plea hearing is scheduled for May 14 in a courtroom in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
While the gold and cash remain largely unrecovered, King-McLean’s anticipated guilty plea in the U.S. signals a possible breakthrough in the broader investigation, which law enforcement believes may involve an international network of organized crime.
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