US asks Jamaica to extradite suspected trafficker

By MIKE MELIA, The Associated Press
2:35 p.m. August 31, 2009

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — The United States has asked Jamaica to extradite a suspected crime boss to face federal drug and weapons-trafficking charges in New York, officials said Monday.

A U.S. indictment accuses Christopher "Duddus" Coke of leading the "Shower Posse" – a gang with agents in Jamaica and the United States that was named in the 1980s for its members' tendency to spray victims with bullets.

The indictment has become a sensitive topic for the government because Coke, a businessman in the island's violence-wracked capital, Kingston, is known for loyalty to Jamaica's governing party. The political opposition says it is watching to make sure he does not receive favorable treatment.

The extradition request is under review and an arrest warrant has not been issued, said Rohan Powell, a spokesman for the island's Justice Ministry.

Coke's lawyer, Tom Tavares-Finson, dismissed the allegations as "hype" from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and said his client is dumbfounded.

"He can't understand what it could possibly be," he said. "We'll wait and see. I don't know what's going to happen with the Jamaican government."

Coke, also known as "President" and "Shortman," is charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms in an indictment that was unsealed Friday in the U.S. Southern District of New York. Coke, 40, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted.

Under Coke's direction, U.S. authorities allege, Shower Posse members have sold marijuana and crack cocaine in the New York area and elsewhere and funneled profits back to him. His name was included on a U.S. Justice Department list of the world's most dangerous drug kingpins.

Jamaica is the Caribbean's largest source of marijuana for the United States.

Coke's father was Lester Lloyd Coke, better known as Jim Brown, a leader of the Shower Posse during the 1980s cocaine wars, during which the FBI blamed the drug gang for 1,400 murders on the U.S. east coast. U.S. prosecutors say Christopher Coke took over the organization following his father's death in 1992.

In the 1990s, many of Jamaica's most notorious gang leaders were killed or sentenced to long prison terms, mainly in the United States. But the gangs continued to operate, and Coke had been suspected of reuniting Shower Posse operatives in recent years.

Mark Shields, a deputy police commissioner, said he was not aware of any local investigation targeting Coke but he added "that does not mean he was not on our radar."

A businessman known for his work as a show promoter, Coke has kept a high public profile in the ghettos west of Kingston, reportedly handing out cash and school supplies to needy children. He is also credited with helping to keep order by using his authority to punish thieves and other criminals in an area where the government has little presence.

His area of influence in west Kingston is also a stronghold of the governing Jamaica Labor Party. Island authorities say gang leaders have had allegiances with political parties since the 1970s, when political factions provided the guns to intimidate elections rivals.

Opposition lawmaker Peter Bunting has cautioned the government against sheltering Coke.

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