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Durante King-Mclean, 26, of Cambridge, Ontario, pleaded guilty in Harrisburg on Tuesday, May 14, to conspiracy to traffic firearms after a Pennsylvania traffic stop exposed a shocking weapons pipeline stretching from Florida to the Canadian border.
He had 65 handguns crammed into the trunk of a rental car, each one hidden inside a sock, authorities said.
Among them were stolen weapons, fully automatic Glocks, and a gun with a defaced serial number, making it untraceable. Investigators believe he was hauling the arsenal north across the border, just months after allegedly helping steal millions in gold bars from an airport cargo terminal.
Caught In Pennsylvania With Guns And A Trail Of Clues
King-Mclean was pulled over by Pennsylvania State Police in Franklin County on Sept. 2, 2023, for multiple traffic violations. He fled on foot, but troopers chased him down. What they found in his car stunned investigators.
The stash included dozens of pistols linked to gun shops in the southern U.S. Two of the weapons were modified to fire automatically—illegal machine guns under federal law. Eleven were reported stolen. One had no serial number at all.
Court documents show King-Mclean had been living in the U.S. illegally since shortly after a $22.5 million gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport in April 2023.
Gold, Guns, And A Cross-Border Conspiracy
Canadian authorities believe King-Mclean was behind the wheel of the white cube van that rolled out of the Pearson cargo warehouse loaded with gold bars and foreign currency. The stolen shipment, taken from a secured facility leased to a third party, vanished without a trace.
At the time, Peel Regional Police called the theft “very rare” and said it involved a container taken from the public side of the warehouse—not inside the airport’s secure zone, CBC News reported.
No one was arrested immediately after the gold went missing, and police couldn’t even confirm if the cargo was still in Canada. Now, authorities believe the heist proceeds were quickly funneled into the U.S. to finance illegal gun purchases.
Federal prosecutors say King-Mclean drove from an Airbnb in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to Atlanta, Georgia, where he visited a U-Haul storage unit believed to be loaded with firearms. Surveillance footage showed him carrying a backpack later recovered from the trunk of his rental car—packed with over 30 pistols.
He was on his way to Canada when police caught him.
Not Alone: Accused Had Help From Florida To Ontario
Three other people have been indicted in the case.
Prasath Paramalingam, 34, and Archit Grover, 36, both of Brampton, Ontario, are accused of funding the gun purchases and helping coordinate the smuggling route. Paramalingam allegedly converted Canadian currency into U.S. dollars and delivered it personally after the gold theft. He also booked King-Mclean’s Airbnb and used encrypted apps to communicate during the operation.
Grover, along with Florida resident Jalisa Edwards, 25, has been charged as an accessory after the fact. Prosecutors say they tried to cover King-Mclean’s tracks by removing evidence from the Airbnb and paying $1,000 to the car rental company to create a fake backdated agreement for the smuggling vehicle.
Paramalingam and Grover are also charged in Canada for their roles in the Pearson airport gold theft. They remain in Canada. U.S. prosecutors have not confirmed whether extradition will be sought, but legal experts say such a process could take years if contested.
Federal Strike Teams Stepped In
The case is part of a wider federal push to dismantle international gun and drug trafficking networks. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Pennsylvania State Police, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led the probe under Project Safe Neighborhoods and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
“This action kept 65 firearms off the street—preventing them from being used in any number of killings and other crimes,” said ATF Special Agent Eric J. DeGree.
HSI described the case as a major disruption to a dangerous cross-border pipeline feeding violence.
What’s Next
King-Mclean’s presentence report is due by July 9, 2025. A sentencing conference is scheduled for October 10. He remains in federal custody in Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors are expected to push for a lengthy prison term.
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