The accused Jamaican drug lord who provoked an uprising on the Caribbean island was flown to New York last night to stand trial.
Christopher “Dudus” Coke, 42, whose drug-baron father died in suspicious circumstances in a Jamaican jail, spent just two nights in Jamaican custody before waiving his right to fight extradition to the United States.
Wearing a gold chain over a blue striped shirt, he was loaded aboard at plane at in the Jamaican capital, Kingston, bound for New York.
Mr Coke later arrived in the Southern District of New York “to face charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms,” the US Justice Department said in a statement.
“Coke is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan federal court tomorrow,” the statement added.
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Mr Coke is described by US authorities as one of the world’s most dangerous drug kingpins. He faces drug-trafficking and gun-running charges in New York stemming from his alleged leadership of Jamaica’s most powerful gang, the Shower Posse.
Jamaican security forces mounted a huge month-long manhunt for Mr Coke after he escaped when hundreds of troops stormed his barricaded stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in Kingston in fighting that killed at least 73 people, two police officers and a soldier.
The area is a bastion of the ruling Jamaica Labour Party and is represented in Parliament by the Prime Minister, Bruce Golding, who initially opposed Mr Coke’s extradition before ordering his arrest.
Mr Coke was finally apprehended on the outskirts of Kingston on Tuesday, disguised in a bushy black wig, as his three-car convoy was reportedly on the way to the US embassy to surrender.
He was held at a Jamaican army base at Up Park Camp for two nights until waiving his extradition rights at a 15-minute hearing before a magistrate.
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“I take this decision, for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of West Kingston and in particular, the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica,” Mr Coke said in a statement that was his first public comment since the manhunt began.
The alleged drug baron said he was “deepy upset” by the deaths of so many Jamaicans, which he believed could have been avoided.
Mr Coke was said to fear the fate of his father, Lester, also known as Jim Brown, an earlier leader of the Shower Posse, who was killed in a mysterious 1992 prison fire just before he was to be extradited to the United States.
There was speculation at the time that the elder Coke was killed to prevent him detailing his ties to powerful Jamaicans to US authorities.
Daryl Vaz, Jamaica’s Information Minister, said the government would continue its fight against the gangs that control so-called “garrison” neighbourhoods in the country.
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“This extradition will be taking place,” he said. “But this does not mean there will be any letup.”