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Monday, May 24, 2010
Christopher "Dudus" Coke is a man who inspires conflicting emotions. To the US government he is one of the world's most dangerous criminals, responsible for trafficking cannabis and crack cocaine around the Caribbean, North America and the UK in exchange for guns and money.
To the residents of Tivoli Gardens, the poor west side of Kingston where his gang has immense support, he is the benefactor who provides them with food, acts as mediator in disputes and even sends their children to school. They call him Presi, Bossy, Shortman or, most commonly, Dudus.
That Coke, 40, should be resisting arrest before possible extradition to the US to face drug charges is perhaps unsurprising, given t...
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Monday, May 24, 2010
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Christopher "Dudus" Coke is a man who inspires conflicting emotions. To the US government he is one of the world's most dangerous criminals, responsible for trafficking cannabis and crack cocaine around the Caribbean, North America and the UK in exchange for guns and money.
To the residents of Tivoli Gardens, the poor west side of Kingston where his gang has immense support, he is the benefactor who provides them with food, acts as mediator in disputes and even sends their children to school. They call him Presi, Bossy, Shortman or, most commonly, Dudus.
That Coke, 40, should be resisting arrest before possible extradition to the US to face drug charges is perhaps unsurprising, given the end that his father came to.
Lester Coke, a leader of a gang called Shower Posse, died in 1992 in a fire that mysteriously broke out in his prison cell where he was awaiting extradition to the US on drug charges. The elder Coke's death occurred on the same day as the funeral of Mark Coke, Dudus' brother, who had been shot three weeks earlier.
According to US authorities, Dudus Coke has stepped into his father's shoes, running the Shower Posse that in the 1980s had been blamed for more than 1,000 murders.
Until recently he enjoyed substantial protection from the ruling Labour party and the Jamaican prime minister, Bruce Golding, whose local constituency is Tivoli Gardens.
Pressure from the Obama administration on the Jamaican government to prove it is serious about combating drugs has forced Golding's hand. Hence the order to arrest Coke, and the ensuing violence intended to keep him out of jail.
Let's keep the people of Jamaica in our prayers until all has been resolved.
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