Suspected members of the Hells Angels and Red Devils Motorcycle Club are among the 28 arrested.
A multi-jurisdictional investigation into an organized crime group allegedly involving outlaw motorcycle clubs in Ontario has resulted in dozens of arrests on hundreds of charges as well as the seizure of an arsenal of firearms and more than $1 million in drugs.
Durham Regional Police say the six-month probe dubbed Project KAKIA was led by their Gun and Gang Enforcement Unit, but it was conducted in partnership with the RCMP Transnational Serious and Organized Crime Unit, the Canada Border Services Agency, OPP and police services in Peterborough, Toronto and Belleville.
In a statement released Friday, cops revealed 55 search warrants executed in Durham Region, Belleville, Madoc, Montreal, Hamilton and Toronto resulted in 28 arrests and 291 charges laid for offences that include break-and-enter, participation in a criminal organization, firearm trafficking and possession of controlled substances.
Officers also seized about $1.2 million in drugs and 32 firearms — five shotguns, 15 rifles and 12 handguns — during the investigation into criminal networks that allegedly involved members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club from the Brooklin and Belleville charters, as well as the Red Devils Motorcycle Club.
The drugs seized included 5.5 kilograms of cocaine; 1.5 kilograms of psilocybin; 7.7 kilograms of cannabis marijuana; 1.2 kilograms of cannabis resin; 1.2 kilograms of methamphetamine; 54 grams of heroin; 141 grams of fentanyl powder; 7336 fentanyl pills; 6187 cannabis edibles packaged as candy; and 20 kilograms of cutting agent.
Cops also seized two percussion grenades, overcapacity magazines, thousands of rounds of ammunition, five vehicles, $290,000 in cash and $148,000 in property allegedly obtained by crime.
Police say the investigation also provided information related to a homicide that occurred in Oshawa on Nov. 29, 2020, which resulted in the arrest of Bradley White for his alleged participation in this offence.
That homicide saw father of two Justin Blight, 27, gunned down in a shootout at an apartment on Simcoe St. near Athol St.
Noah Renison, 35, who was treated for a gunshot wound at a Toronto hospital, was taken into custody the day after the Oshawa shootout and charged with first-degree murder.
White, 34, of Oshawa, was arrested Feb. 4 on charges of manslaughter and robbery.
Renison, a reputed member of Hells Angels outlaw affiliate club the Red Devils Motorcycle Club, pleaded guilty in 2013 to illegal possession of a firearm, tampering with the serial number and drug possession. He was sentenced to five years in prison and handed a lifetime weapons prohibition.
Renison was charged again in 2018 after cops seized two semi-automatic guns from an Oshawa home. White was arrested in that raid as well.
However, neither the 2018 charges or 2020 first-degree murder charge have been proven in court.
