Cambridge, Ont. man accused in airport gold heist sentenced to 160 months in jail for gun smuggling in U.S.

Durante King-Mclean - the man who drove the getaway truck in the biggest gold theft in Canadian history - has pleaded guilty to a U.S. firearms charge.

An American judge has sentenced a Cambridge, Ont. man to 160 months in prison for trying to illegally smuggle guns into Canada from the United States.

According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, Durante King-Mclean pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to illegally traffic firearms on May 14, 2025.

The attorney’s office said King-Mclean was stopped by the Pennsylvania State Police on Sept. 2, 2023 while he was driving a rental vehicle. They said he ran off and was arrested after a short chase. During a search of the rental vehicle, officers found 65 handguns hidden in socks in the vehicle’s trunk.

“Of the 65 handguns that were recovered, two were fully automatic, 11 were stolen, and one had an obliterated serial number,” the news release said.

The attorney said King-Mclean had been working with his co-conspirators from April 2023 until his arrest. He had been living at an Airbnb in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida before heading north towards Canada in the rental vehicle.

After his arrest, police in Peel Region also charged him for the April 17, 2023 heist of millions of dollars worth of gold bars and foreign currency from an Air Canada terminal at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport. He was accused of being the getaway driver in that case. Investigators previously said they believed the two incidents were connected.

“The conviction of Durante King-Mclean underscores the serious threat posed by firearms traffickers, whose actions fuel violence in communities both here and in Canada,” said Nathan Abel, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) Philadelphia. “HSI is steadfast in its commitment to work with our federal, state and international partners to dismantle cross-border criminal networks and ensure that individuals like King-Mclean are held fully accountable for their crimes.”