The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, also known as the American Outlaws Association, or A.O.A., is classified as a motorcycle gang by various law enforcement agencies internationally.2003 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (2003) Outlaw motorcycle gangs Europol The Outlaws have been implicated in various organized crime activities, including drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution rings, weapons trafficking, and violent acts directed at rival motorcycle clubs.Crimes of the Big Four Motorcycle Gangs Office of Justice Programs (April 2009) Members of the Outlaws have continuously denied that the club is an organized crime syndicate, asserted that the organization is simply a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who live a nonconventional lifestyle, and described allegations by investigators and prosecutors as exaggerated.Outlaw bike gangs on rise Tampa Bay Times (September 24, 1991) Prosecutors try to depose the "top Outlaw' Graham Brink, Tampa Bay Times (March 21, 2001) Outlaws have sordid, violent history in metro Chicago Chuck Goudie, ABC 7 Chicago (November 16, 2017)
Belgium The Outlaws are considered a criminal motorcycle gang by the Belgian Federal Police. The club's first chapter in Belgium was formed in Mechelen on 5 March 1999.
In April 2000, "full-patch" member Jan Wouters was killed by Outlaw André Renard in the presence of two other Outlaws on the club's domain in Mechelen. All three members were given life sentences for the murder of their fellow Outlaw. Among them was the brother-in-law of the victim. According to the three convicted Outlaws, the murder took place after an argument escalated. Upon escalation, Wouters supposedly aimed a gun at his brother-in-law after which he himself was killed. It was largely believed that the murder was not the result of an escalated discussion, but rather an execution approved by the club's hierarchy.
On 4 October 2009, several Hells Angels and allied Red Devils performed a raid on an Outlaws clubhouse in Kortrijk. Shots were fired and three Outlaws were wounded before the Hells Angels and their Red Devils comrades fled the scene. The incident occurred after members of the Outlaws supposedly pushed over a motorcycle belonging to Red Devils president Johan F. in Moeskroen. The raid is also thought to be a part of a territorial dispute between the Hells Angels and the Red Devils on one side and the Outlaws on the other. Several months before the raid, on the 24 July 2009, members of the Red Devils and Hells Angels already retaliated by setting fire to motorcycles outside an Outlaws clubhouse. Eventually, six Hells Angels and two Red Devils were convicted for attempted murder and given sentences from five to twenty years in prison.
On 21 May 2011, one "full-patch" member, one prospect, and one supporter of the Belgium Outlaws were shot and killed by rival bikers of the Belgian Hells Angels. The killings took place in Eisden, not far from Maasmechelen where the Outlaws had opened a new clubhouse just several days earlier. Two days after the murders, several Hells Angels were linked to the murder and arrested, including the president of the Zwartberg chapter. The funeral of the "full-patch" member, Freddy Put, was joined by some 200 Outlaws from across Europe. The investigation concerning the murders in Eisden is ongoing and is made difficult because within both the Hells Angels and the Outlaws there is a code of silence. In a response to these murders, the Belgian Army is investigating the possibility of removing members of criminal motorcycle clubs from their ranks since two of the primary suspects were paracommandos.
On the night of 24 December 2012, during a rock concert in Dilsen-Stokkem, members of the Hells Angels were attacked by members of the Outlaws. Several Hells Angels were inside the Nieuwenborgh hall listening to the evening's last rock band finishing their final songs when, at about 1:30 a.m. by local time, several Outlaws armed with expandable batons (illegal in Belgium) arrived at the scene. The situation quickly escalated into a brawl with three wounded as a result. The police quickly arrived at the scene in large numbers. One of the wounded was a 41-year-old man who suffered an open fracture to the leg.
Canada The Outlaws entered Canada on 1 July 1977 when a number of Satan's Choice chapters under the leadership of Garnet "Mother" McEwen "patched over" to join the Outlaws. In Canada, the Outlaws claim seven chapters and a membership of approximately 60.Notable clubs with a presence in Canada Edmonton Journal (6 June 2015)
Newfoundland and Labrador The Outlaws' two chapters in Newfoundland and Labrador are based in Grand Falls-Windsor and Gander.
Ontario The Outlaws remained the largest club in Ontario until 2000. The club has four chapters in the province; in Toronto, Ottawa, South Simcoe and Sault Ste. Marie.
In 1981, Satan's Choice made an alliance with the Lobos and the Chosen Few gangs against the Outlaws. On 17 July 1983, a bus carrying two Hells Angels was shot up in Wawa by a group of Outlaws led by Mario "Mike the Wop" Parente. On 17 September 1983, an Outlaw, David Eugene Séquin, went on a shooting rampage when he stormed into the clubhouse of the Chosen Few in Emeryville. Séquin killed three people and wounded three more. One of those he killed was the national president of the Chosen Few, Edward Bruce Morris. In 1984, the Outlaws entered Toronto when their national president, Stanley "Beamer" McConnery, persuaded the Iron Hawgs gang to "patch over" to the Outlaws. In July 1985, Séquin, who had fled to the United States, was killed in a shoot-out with the police in Steger, Illinois, when he chose to resist arrest.
Kingston Outlaws chapter president William "Wild Bill" Hulko died of natural causes at Quinte Detention Centre in Napanee on 12 August 2002 while awaiting trial on charges of sexually assaulted a girl under the age of 14 in 1992, and with using a weapon during the assault. Hulko's funeral was held in Sault Ste. Marie on 18 August 2002 and conducted entirely by members of the Outlaws and their support club, the Black Pistons.Local Outlaws remember William Hulko David Helwig, Sootoday.com (18 August 2002)
On 25 September 2002, the Outlaws were the subject of Project Retire by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) that saw 56 Outlaws arrested. On 15 April 2007, Marcus Cornelisse was questioned by the police about whatever he violated his bail conditions, leading him to attack and beat two police officers. Corelisse was arrested the next day. Cornelisse made a plea bargain with the Crown that he would serve a year in prison for assaulting the two police officers in exchange for which he was forbidden to associate with other Outlaws. William Mellow, the Outlaw national secretary, was found to have on his farm a loaded 10-mm handgun, 50 rounds of ammunition, a 12-gauge shotgun and $11,065 in cash hidden in his Cadillac. In exchange for a plea bargain, Mellow pleaded guilty to having a handgun without a license in exchange for which he accepted he was not to associate with other Outlaws. With the exceptions of the Outlaw national president, Mario Parente, and Luis Fereiria, all of the Outlaws arrested in Project Retire made plea bargains, which crippled the Outlaws.
Recently, the Outlaws have clashed with the Loners in at least one incident in Cornwall. The Loners relocated their chapter from Cornwall to Brockville around 2020 following an aggressive investigation into its alleged drug trafficking. On 8 July 2023, members of the Loners and Outlaws were involved in an altercation in Cornwall which police believe was targeted. One person was shot and two people stabbed, but their injuries were not considered life-threatening. Five people were arrested and charged, with details yet to be released. Less than 36 hours later, the Outlaw clubhouse in Brockville was destroyed by a large fire. The fire was deemed suspicious because of the building's ownership and the presence of accelerants in the building. Police are not yet linking the two events. A series of raids in Southwestern Ontario earlier in the month saw police seize a large quantity of drugs as well as weapons, including two sniper rifles. Police stated the results of the raid showed that the Outlaws and other MCs were expanding into smaller communities and that they are able and willing to use deadly force.
Quebec On 15 February 1978, two Outlaws were shot outside of a Montreal bar, sparking a biker war with the Hells Angels that lasted until 1984.
Finland The Outlaws entered Finland via Russia, when a feeder club called Fifteen MC South Karelia was established in Lappeenranta in 2012 with support from a Russian Outlaws chapter. The number 15 in the feeder club's name referred to the fifteenth letter of the alphabet, "O", standing for Outlaws. In 2012, the Fifteen MC clubhouse in Lappeenranta was destroyed in an arson attack; the perpetrators were never identified. In the summer of 2017, two Finnish groups in Jyväskylä and Lappeenranta received prospect status, and in September 2018, both were accepted as full-member chapters—Midland (Jyväskylä) and South-Karelia (Lappeenranta)—alongside a Lithuanian chapter in Kaunas. A third chapter, Frontline, subsequently formed in the Jyväskylä area with a clubhouse in Muurame, and a fourth chapter, West Coast, has also been established.
2023–2024 drug trafficking case Between August and December 2023, members of the Outlaws' Frontline chapter in Jyväskylä and their associates distributed tens of kilograms of drugs in Central Finland and the Helsinki capital region. The investigation involved suspects from Finland, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Estonia, the United States, and Hungary. Thirteen people were arrested, of whom seven remained in custody at the conclusion of the pre-trial investigation.
The group operated hierarchically. Frontline chapter president Marko Tapio Puttonen held a commanding position over other members. British national Lee Patrick Smyth served as an international liaison and drug administrator, travelling from the United Kingdom to Finland on multiple occasions. Smyth first arrived in Finland on 7 August 2023 and met Puttonen in Jyväskylä, after which Puttonen sent a WhatsApp message to other Outlaws members stating: "Manchester guests received." The group secured a rental apartment in the Pupuhuhta neighborhood of Jyväskylä as a base of operations and drug storage facility.Pre-trial investigation protocol 2400/R/485/23. National Bureau of Investigation, 2024.
On 16 October 2023, a Cessna 210 Centurion light aircraft (registration HA-SKA) landed at Hyvinkää airfield, approximately 60 kilometers north of Helsinki, carrying 20 kilograms of cocaine. The single-engine propeller aircraft departed from Hungary and made a refueling stop in Lithuania before arriving in Finland. Three Hungarian nationals arrived on the aircraft. Hyvinkää airfield is an uncontrolled general aviation airfield with no air traffic control or permanent government oversight. Police had no prior intelligence of the cocaine shipment; it was only discovered later during the investigation of other suspects in the case.
Of the cocaine shipment, 10 kilograms were delivered to Swedish national Abbas Abdulaziz Mohammad, who was arrested on 18 October 2023, while 5 kilograms were transported to Jyväskylä. Police suspected an additional 5 kilograms remained unrecovered. The cocaine packages bore a Mercedes-Benz logo stamp, and a Hungarian fingerprint was found on one of the packages.