Christopher Coke

Prosecutors said his organization often transported cocaine to Miami and New York. A portion of the profits, they said, went to buy guns in the United States, which were shipped back to Mr. Coke, who wielded considerable political influence in Jamaica. His organization was so well armed that it “rendered the Tivoli Gardens area virtually off-limits to the local police,” prosecutors wrote in a recent court filing.

Mr. Coke's legal predicament strained relations between Jamaica and the United States and led to dozens of deaths over several days in late May 2010, as Jamaican authorities forced their way into Tivoli Gardens, the poor west Kingston neighborhood that Mr. Coke controlled. The fighting at times blocked access to the airport, and the United States State Department urged American citizens not to travel to Kingston.

Known as Dudus, Short Man and President, Mr. Coke was indicted in August 2009 in New York on charges that he had controlled an international drug ring from his Kingston stronghold. Prosecutors say Mr. Coke's confederates in New York sent him part of their drug proceeds and shipped guns to him that he used to bolster his authority.

Mr. Coke's case shed light on the longstanding practice in Jamaica of politicians and gang leaders sharing power, for the benefit of both. When Prime Minister Bruce Golding, who represents Tivoli Gardens in Parliament, was elected in 2007, Mr. Coke's influence seemed to grow and his business interests, including an entertainment company and a construction company, received sizable government backing. At election time, Mr. Golding has benefited from the support of the gang leader and his Shower Posse in getting out the vote, according to politicians from both parties.

Background

Mr. Coke's father was a gang leader with considerable influence in the Jamaican Labour Party. When Mr. Coke's father died under mysterious circumstances in 1992 while also facing extradition to the United States, the leader of the Jamaica Labour Party at the time, Edward Seaga, led his funeral procession.

Mr. Coke, born in 1969, followed in his father's footsteps as leader of the Shower Posse, law enforcement officials said, and received government support. But the indictment from the United States interrupted the arrangement.

At first, Mr. Golding fought the extradition, arguing that it was based on flawed evidence. But when criticism grew both at home and abroad to the point that Mr. Golding's government hung in the balance, he backed down and agreed to send Mr. Coke to New York.

As a result, Mr. Coke's backers began barricading streets and wielding weapons to keep the police and soldiers at bay in Tivoli Gardens, leading to one of the most violent episodes in the country's recent history. The government declared a state of emergency. Jamaican security officials were accused of using excessive force in their search for Mr. Coke, resulting in dozens of deaths that have not been not fully explained.

On June 22, 2010, Mr. Coke was peacefully taken into custody while in a vehicle with the Rev. Al Miller, a popular local preacher who helped arrange the recent surrender of Mr. Coke's brother and sister, according to Owen Ellington, commissioner of the police, the Jamaican Constabulary Force. Mr. Coke said he did not challenge his extradition because he wanted to put an end to the bloodshed that the country had experienced since an arrest warrant was issued for him in May.

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