MISSISSAUGA — More than $20 million worth of gold and other high-value items have been stolen from Toronto Pearson Airport, Peel Regional ****** said Thursday.

Duty Insp. Stephen Duivesteyn told media ****** are investigating the theft that took place early Monday evening after a plane that arrived at the airport was unloaded and its cargo transported to a holding facility.

“Once this cargo was offloaded at a holding facility, subsequent to its arrival, this high-value container was removed by illegal means,” said Duivesteyn.

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

The Peel ****** airport division has been leading the *************.

The force has a great working relationship with the RCMP which remain “a quick call away,” Duivesteyn said, but the ************* currently remains in Peel ******’s jurisdiction.

****** have not revealed any information about potential suspects and wouldn’t say which ******* shipped the cargo, where the gold was headed, or where the plane came from.

Duivesteyn stopped short of saying it was a professional job.

“We’re looking at all angles on how this item was stolen, so I don’t really have a lot of details on how it was stolen to provide, or any suspect,” he said. “We’re unable to provide specifics to this ************* because we’re three days in.”

The “very rare” theft is believed to be an isolated ********, Duivesteyn said, noting there are no concerns for travel or public safety at the airport.

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority issued a statement in the wake of the theft: “The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is aware of the theft that took place this week. 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 ****** to passengers or GTAA staff.”