The accused Jamaican drug baron who sparked an uprising that shut the Caribbean island’s capital was taken into custody last night, police said.
Christopher “Dudus” Coke is wanted in the United States as the alleged head of the “Shower Posse” drug gang that controlled the Tivoli Gardens slum in Kingston — a stronghold of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and the constituency of Bruce Golding, the Prime Minister.
Mr Coke, named by the US as one of the most dangerous drug lords in the world, surrendered with the help of a local pastor. The Rev Al Miller had earlier helped to facilitate the surrender of Mr Coke’s sister Sandy and his brother Leighton. Troops surrounded the police station where Mr Coke was being held in Spanish Town, west of the capital, after being taken into custody in Portmore, on the outskirts of Kingston.
Mr Miller said Mr Coke was on his way to surrender at the US Embassy in Kingston when police stopped him at a checkpoint.
“The police searched the vehicle that I was in and they recognised him and held him,” Mr Miller said.
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He added that Mr Coke had asked for his help in arranging the surrender at the embassy because he did not trust the police not to harm him if he surrendered to them.
“He also wanted to waive his right to an extradition hearing so that he could go to the US for a trial,” Mr Miller, a minister at the nondenominational Whole Life Ministry, said.
Police Commissioner Owen Ellington declined to comment on reports that Mr Coke had been moved to army headquarters last night.
“He appeared to be physically well and we will be preparing him to face the court as soon as possible,” Mr Ellington said.
A 30-day state of emergency was declared from midnight last night in St Catherine Parish, where Spanish Town is located. The arrest comes almost a month after hundreds of troops stormed the “garrison” neighbourhood to execute an arrest warrant, turning Kingston into a war zone and killing at least 73 people.
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Mr Golding has vowed to end the influence of local gangs on Jamaican politics. Mr Coke’s father was a notorious leader of the Shower Posse, which was blamed for 1,400 murders on the East Coast of America during the “drug wars” of the 1980s.
Lester Coke, also known as Jim Brown, died in a mysterious prison fire on the eve of his extradition to the US amid speculation that he had been silenced by leading Jamaican politicians who feared him talking to US authorities.
His son is said to fear a similar fate and his lawyers had been negotiating with US officials over the terms for a safe surrender and transfer to the US. A US Drug Enforcement Agency plane has been on standby to go to Jamaica to pick him up and take him to New York to stand trial.
Police feared last night they would be the target of a retaliatory attack after Mr Coke’s surrender. “This upgrading of the threat level is based on intelligence suggesting that detained and displaced criminals as well as other criminals are planning attacks on security personnel and assets,” a police statement said.
The police commissioner appealed to families, friends and sympathisers of Mr Coke “to remain calm and to allow the law to take its course”.
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“We would also like to reassure the country that we will continue our efforts to defeat organised crime and to restore law and order in this country while, at the same time, turning around the crime and security situation,” Commissioner Ellington emphasised.