The White Ghost of Jamaica
They finally caught one, huh?
Government must not like competition.
"Jamaican drug lord in custody, media report" by Associated Press | June 23, 2010
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Reputed gang leader Christopher “Dudus’’ Coke, who eluded a bloody police offensive in his slum stronghold last month, surrendered to authorities outside Jamaica’s capital yesterday, local news media reported.
Coke has been called one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords by US authorities and faces trial in New York on drug and arms trafficking charges. One Jamaican newspaper said he was prepared to waive his right to an extradition hearing.
He surrendered nearly a month after 76 people were killed during a four-day assault by Jamaican police and soldiers on the West Kingston slum of Tivoli Gardens, which is Coke’s base.
Also known as “President’’ to the people of his slum, Coke served as community leader and enforcer in an area the government acknowledges it has long neglected....
Prime Minister Bruce Golding, whose Jamaica Labor Party has long counted on the support of gunmen inside Tivoli Gardens, opposed the extradition request for nine months before reversing himself under growing public pressure that threatened his political career.
That was U.S. PRESSURE, folks!!!
And I suspect it was more than just his political career on the line.
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KINGSTON, Jamaica — Christopher “Dudus’’ Coke was born into gang royalty, running a smuggling operation that supplied drugs up and down the US East Coast.
Reminds me of the Bush boys.
He used the proceeds to cast himself as a Jamaican Robin Hood, and his power grew to rival that of the prime minister.
The Sheriff of Nottingham Forest got 'em!
That reign was at an end yesterday, with Coke behind bars at a secret location and facing almost certain extradition to the United States.
They moved him to a CIA black site already?
The threat of extradition sparked a week of violence in May that killed 76 people, but his capture after a monthlong manhunt was surprisingly peaceful: He was arrested at a police checkpoint while wearing a wig in a preacher’s car outside the capital.
In some ways, it was a fitting end since Coke, 42, was known as a low-key kingpin — more Godfather than Scarface — who quietly exercised his power over the most notorious Jamaican slum....
Now, much of Jamaica is on edge as people wait to see if Coke’s many supporters in the slums of West Kingston will also remain calm with the loss of a leader credited with providing better services than the government.
Yeah, that TENDS to WIN PEOPLE OVER, yup!
Certainly a hell of a lot more than bombs and occupations, America.
Coke is due to make his first court appearance by today as proceedings begin for his extradition to New York, where he faces drug and weapons charges and the prospect of a possible life sentence if convicted.
His father, famed gang leader Jim Brown, died in a 1992 prison fire in Jamaica while awaiting extradition to the United States on drug charges.
Hmmmmmmmmm.
Sniff, sniff. I smell more than just a fire.
Coke then became the head of the Shower Posse, a name that by some accounts came from the gang’s practice of showering its enemies with bullets.
By all accounts, the son was a sharp contrast from his mercurial father, but he nevertheless took his inherited role to new heights.
US authorities who began investigating Coke’s role in cocaine and marijuana shipments to New York and Florida in the 1990s allege he gave out cash and weapons to solidify his authority among gangs in Kingston and beyond.
Yeah, they have known for a long, long, time and now they bust him?
What's going on here?
He also spread his riches around the slums.
If only YOU could get SO LUCKY, 'eh, America?
In blighted downtown areas with hardly any government presence, he was credited with enforcing public order and helping families with nowhere else to turn for medical bills and other needs....
And where is YOUR GOVERNMENT, Americans?
Even the "public order" has been reduced to POLICE STATE TYRANNY!!
The one known passion of the man who organized huge street parties inside Tivoli Gardens is for dance — especially the Gully Creeper made famous by Usain Bolt at the Beijing Olympics.
A former teacher told local media once that Coke had been a model student, a math whiz, said Annie Paul, a cultural critic in Kingston who has researched the island’s gang culture.
He strayed by picking up the family business; same as the Bushes!!!
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KINGSTON, Jamaica — The scion of a Jamaican gang family agreed yesterday to be extradited to New York, saying it was in his nation’s best interests after clashes that killed 76 people. Her arrived in New York later in the day.
Look at this!
The DRUG DEALER is acting MORE PRESIDENTIAL than OBAMA!!
Israel guns down an American citizen in international waters in an act of piracy and Obama does nothing while this crook Coke turns himself in to spare his people.
Wow!
Christopher “Dudus’’ Coke, whose supporters waged street battles with security forces last month in an attempt to prevent him from facing drug and weapons charges in the United States, waived his right to an extradition trial at his first appearance before a Jamaican judge.
At a hearing held under heavy security, Coke said he was deeply saddened by the lives lost in the fighting, which centered around his power base in the Tivoli Gardens slum. He said he hopes his decision will help Jamaica heal.
Coke, 42, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. US prosecutors say Coke, as leader of the notorious Shower Posse gang, has overseen large shipments of cocaine and marijuana to the eastern United States since the 1990s.
That's been what, 15-20 years after taking over the family business from dad?
One wonders why they were allowed to operate so long, and don't give me corrupt government. The U.S. could have steamrolled them anytime.
It's JAMAICA, fer crying out loud, not Afghanistan!!!
He was caught Tuesday.
How do you hold on to a ghost?
Answer: Drug him.
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