Outlaws Motorcycle Club opens new London clubhouse

After years of lying low in London, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club has set up a clubhouse in a commercial building at 1103 Brydges St., located on the same block as the London police reporting centre. Experts say the move is likely an attempt by the Outlaws to push back at the Hells Angels’ hold on the city’s lucrative drug trade. The Hells Angels — numbering around a dozen full-patch ­members in London — probably won’t let their rivals expand. "The return to London is not a surprise, as there has been a presence in London by the Outlaws all along — they just had no clubhouse” said Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor

Opening a London chapter in 1977, the Outlaws dominated the city’s criminal biker scene for decades until the Hells Angels opened a prospect chapter in 2001. Prominent Outlaws — including the chapter president — patched over to their bitter rivals. A province-wide police bust in 2002 called Project Retire put dozens of Ontario Outlaws behind bars. Some remaining Outlaws tried to start a Bandidos chapter, which was destroyed by the massacre of eight Bandidos in 2006. The gang’s clubhouse on Egerton Street was demolished in 2009, but supporters of the club remained.