Two men police believe were involved in a brazen heist of 16 tonnes of silver were charged with theft and possession of stolen goods in a Montreal court Thursday.

Jaswinder Singh and Norberto Cordeiro are also charged with conspiracy and trafficking in stolen goods.

Montreal police arrested five men Wednesday night in connection with the $10 million in silver stolen from the Port of Montreal last Wednesday.

Three of the accused men appeared in court Thursday morning and were released on a promise to appear in court at a later date. The charges they face are unclear.

Police searched the homes of Norberto Codeiro in St. Laurent and Jawsinder Singh in Ile Perrot. They briefly appeared in court together Thursday afternoon and face the same charges: simple theft, possession of stolen goods and conspiracy to commit theft.

Police say some of the 16 tonnes of silver has been recovered, and that raids took place Wednesday night in a dozen 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.

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.

The port's vice-president maintains security is airtight there. At this point, police won't say whether they think the heist was an inside job, nor will they say what the suspects were planning to do with the silver.

They're still hoping to find the roughly $7 million of silver that is still missing, and say that could lead to more arrests.