KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The main opposition People’s National Party (PNP) Tuesday called on the law enforcement authorities to lay criminal charges against reputed drug lord, Christopher “Dudus” Coke, following his conviction on drug and gun running charges in the United states last week.
Coke pleaded guilty to one count of trafficking in narcotics and firearm trafficking under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. He also pleaded guilty to one count of assault.
He faces a maximum of 23 years in jail and will be sentenced on December 8.
The PNP spokesman on National Security, Peter Bunting, said that there was sufficient information available to local authorities on which a case can be mounted against the former Tivoli Gardens strongman.
He said the local authorities could get information from US prosecutors through the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.
Bunting told a news conference that a local investigation could prevent Coke from rebuilding his criminal enterprise if he is released from prison early.
The PNP spokesman dismissed suggestions that Coke and his “Shower Posse” gang become a force while the PNP formed the government during the 1990s.
He said the Shower Posse was already a well-established criminal organisation when Coke took over from his father Lester Lloyd Coke in the 1990s.
Coke is alleged to have controlled a drug ring from the community of Tivoli Gardens in the ruling Jamaica Labour Party’s constituency of West Kingston.
While cocaine and marijuana were sent into the US, investigators alleged that guns and other firearms were sent from the US to other drug leaders in Jamaica.
Coke’s guilty plea was made 15 months after Prime Minister Bruce Golding ordered his arrest on May 24, 2010.
Golding issued the order after months of hesitation following a US indictment on charges that the notorious “Shower Posse” gang, reportedly led by Coke was the main supplier of most of the cocaine on the streets of eastern United States cities.
After eluding members of the security forces here for close to one month and following a police/military incursion in Tivoli Gardens that led to the deaths of more than 70 people.
Coke was eventually captured in the central parish of St Catherine in June last year in the company of Reverend Al Miller, and was flown to New York for trial after he waived his right to an extradition hearing in Jamaica.
CMC/ir/pr/2011