Police arrested six people and are seeking three more others accused of stealing thousands of gold bars worth more than 20 million Canadian dollars ($14m), in what authorities say was the largest gold heist in the country’s history.

Canadian police have arrested multiple people and issued warrants for three others in connection with what they called the largest gold heist in Canadian history – a cargo worth C$20 million ($14.5m /£11.6m) in gold and cash.

The “Netflix-series”-style heist at a Toronto Pearson International Airport facility last April was orchestrated by a “well-organised group of criminals”, Peel Regional Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah told reporters on Wednesday.

“This particular theft has become the largest gold theft in Canadian history, and it’s one of the largest, for that matter, in North America.”

The shipment of 6,600 gold bars weighed 400kg (882 pounds) and came from a refinery in Switzerland. That cargo, along with C$2.5 million ($1.8m) in foreign bank notes, was stolen from an Air Canada facility on April 17, 2023.

Canadian police on Wednesday named the nine suspects in the heist, reportedly the sixth biggest in the world, and detailed the 19 charges they face.

Police said five of the suspects were arrested in the country and released on bail pending trial.

One additional suspect, originally from Brampton in Ontario, was arrested in the US state of Pennsylvania after being discovered with dozens of illegal guns that police say were intended for use in Canada. That person, who they allege to be the gang’s driver, remains in custody in the US.

Canada-wide arrest warrants have been issued for the remaining three suspects.

The accused include two Air Canada employees and a jewellery store owner, as well as the alleged getaway driver. The investigation is ongoing.

In the aftermath of Wednesday’s announcement, Air Canada said it had suspended one cargo division employee charged in the theft while the other, who worked in the same department at the time of the heist, had left the airline before the charges were announced.

“As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further,” Air Canada said in a statement.

Authorities said the stolen gold was initially offloaded from a plane and then securely stored in a cargo holding facility.

Two and a half hours later, a man driving a truck arrived at the loading dock with a fraudulent air waybill to claim the cargo. The document he used to track the international shipments had been printed at the Air Canada cargo facility.

So far, police have recovered C$90,000 ($65,000) of “pure gold”, fashioned into six “crudely made” bracelets. They also seized smelting pots, casts, and moulds, as well as C$430,000 ($312,000) in cash that police said were the profits of gold sales.

They are still searching for the rest of the gold.