OPP warn of recent biker gang violence after events in Cornwall, Brockville, Ont.

Ontario Provincial Police say officers in its biker enforcement unit are aiding two investigations into motorcycle gang violence in eastern Ontario.

Two people were stabbed and one person was shot in Cornwall Saturday night in what Cornwall Police said was a fight between members of the Outlaws and Loners gangs. On Monday, the Outlaws clubhouse in Brockville burned down, damaging several nearby homes and displacing residents. OPP are calling the fire a suspected arson.

Both clubs are known to operate in the region and have gathered from time to time, but those gatherings have largely been uneventful. 

Cornwall and Brockville police are leading their respective investigations, but OPP say their biker unit is on hand to assist.

"While 99 per cent of motorcycle enthusiasts are law abiding, OMG (outlaw motorcycle gang) members believe that they are the one per cent that live outside the law," OPP said in a news release. OMGs are criminal organizations whose activities cause harm and victimization in communities across Ontario. These profit-driven activities include fraud, drug trafficking, human trafficking, assaults, intimidation and murder."

OPP Det. Insp. Scott Wade, with the biker enforcement bureau told CTV News Ottawa investigations around biker gangs are unique.

"We have to recognize that there is an elevated level of risk and threat when dealing with outlaw motorcycle gangs," he said. "Just by their very nature, the way they utilize violence in their day-to-day criminal activity."

Wade wouldn't comment on the specific incidents in Cornwall and Brockville, but said guns are becoming more common among criminal elements.

"There's an increasing level of firearms usage and the violence associated to the outlaw motorcycle gangs. This isn't unique to that world, but we do recognize that increased level of violence and increasing firearms."

Last week OPP seized military style sniper rifles, drugs, brass knuckles, and a 50-round drum magazine for a Glock pistol in a drug trafficking investigation near London, Ontario that included raiding an Outlaws Motorcycle Clubhouse.

Cornwall police said five people were arrested in connection with the violence over the weekend, but charges have yet to be made public. The fire in Brockville remains under investigation.

"We find it very alarming and our response is going to be noticeable. We can't have violence in the streets," Wade said. "Obviously, it was contained to the groups and we don’t foresee a real threat other than the ongoing threat of organized crime groups and outlaw motorcycle gangs." 

Smaller communities offer new opportunity for biker gangs

According to experts on biker gangs and criminal organizations, both the Loners and the Outlaws are high-profile motorcycle clubs with international chapters and an expansive presence in both Ontario and Canada.

"[They] are second tier to the Hells Angels but they’re still very established, people still want to join them and they can distribute products, they’re good at hitting the small towns," Peter Edwards, a crime reporter with the Toronto Star and author of multiple books relating to Canadian biker gangs, said.

According to Edwards, communities like Brockville, Cornwall and Kingston – all of which boast an Outlaws clubhouse – are prime locations for biker gangs to operate at a distance from larger organizations, while still trafficking drugs and conducting other criminal activity.

Although there is no motive for the fight in Cornwall or the suspected arson in Brockville, Edwards suspects it likely has to do with increased tensions in the area due to the eastward expansion of the Loners.

"It shows an aggressiveness that we haven’t seen before I think," he said.

On Wednesday, an Ottawa member of Loners Nomad club was arrested south of the city and charged with drug trafficking. Police say he was carrying a motorcycle vest that included body armour.

Last year, OPP arrested other members of the Loners Motorcycle Club in Ottawa, where they confiscated rifles, knives, and ammunition.

--With files from CTV News Ottawa's Colton Praill.