What’s behind the violence in Jamaica
Answer: Christopher “Dudus” Coke.
His last name is apropos, as he’s believed to be a second-generation leader of the Shower Posse, an extremely violent drug gang from Jamaica that had its heyday in South Florida in the 1980s/90s cocaine wars.
Cops were tracking the Shower Posse and other gangs (which were called posses) 25 years ago in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and environs. The gang got its name from the hail of bullets it showered down on patrons of a Fort Lauderdale nightclub in 1985.
The feds have been engaged in a tug-of-war with Jamaica over Coke’s extradition to the United States. He’s alleged to have ties to the ruling Labour Party in Jamaica and that’s believed to be the reason behind the lack of cooperation. The Jamaican government said it’s because the U.S. illegally wiretapped conversations to build its case against Coke.
Shower Posse and its offshoots are believed to be responsible for 1,400 deaths in the U.S.
But it appears the citizenry of Jamaica believe the U.S. side of the story more than their prime minister’s, as they began pressuring him to resign. Prime Minister Bruce Golding represents the neighborhood in the Jamaican parliament where Coke is holed up.
In Coke’s neighborhood, though, another story. Police had to storm Tivoli Gardens to capture him, killing at least 30 people while fighting Coke’s heavily armed supporters.
Meanwhile, many Jamaicans who live in South Florida are reconsidering travel plans to the island and worry about their friends and family on the island - and about how looting in the capital city of Kingston will affect people’s lives after the violence has died down.
