MONTREAL: Three men accused of plotting a heist to steal $10 million of silver have already been in court, while two others are due in court this afternoon.
Montreal police have arrested five men in connection with the $10 million in silver stolen from the Port of Montreal last Wednesday.
Police say some of the 16 tonnes of silver has been recovered, and that raids took place overnight in four locations, including at homes on Jean-Gascon St. in St. Laurent and Labrosse Ave. in Pointe-Claire and an address on Ile Perrot.
Police were pulling silver bars out of the locations Wednesday night, and said they recovered about one-third of the missing ingots.
“We’ll try to get more details on the amount that was seized during these raids,” said Montreal police spokesperson Anie Lemieux. Police acted on tips from the public that led them to the five men, who are all between 35 and 53 years old.
Three of the men appeared in court Thursday morning and were released. They are expected back in court at a later date. Two other men are expected to appear in court Thursday afternoon. Police have been tight-lipped about the case, and would not say how they think the silver was stolen.
Last week a white 1997 Freightliner truck was stolen somewhere in the city’s west end. Within a few hours, that truck made its way over to the port in the east end, and the silver vanished. The six-metre long grey MAERSK shipping container stolen from the Port of Montreal turned up in Repentigny Saturday morning, but it was empty.
The Port of Montreal said it has strict security measures, insisting it maintains tight control of its access and exit points with 350 video cameras trained on the sprawling facility.
