Kingston, Jamaica — Christopher “Dudus” Coke, the alleged Jamaican drug kingpin, will be extradited to the United States, a quiet formality that followed a dramatic eruption of street violence in the capital of Kingston.
Coke, who appeared at a hearing Thursday, told his attorneys to waive his right to extradition proceedings and “proceed directly” to the United States. He was turned over to authorities and was awaiting a flight to the United States.
“I have taken this decision of my own free will and have done so even though I am of the belief that my case would have been successfully argued in the courts of Jamaica,” he said in a statement issued Thursday.
Coke was arrested Tuesday when Jamaican police recognized him at a checkpoint and took him into custody.
He was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. The U.S. attorney’s office in New York accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the Shower Posse.
A failed attempt to arrest Coke last month resulted in four days of gunbattles between security forces and his supporters in Kingston that left 76 people dead, and authorities wanted to avoid a repeat of the violence.
Coke said he was “deeply upset and saddened by the unnecessary loss of lives” when security forces and his supporters battled in the streets of Kingston and said the deaths “could have been avoided.
“Everyone, the whole country, has been adversely affected by the process that has surrounded my extradition, and I hope that my action today will go some way towards healing all who have suffered and will be of benefit to the community of Tivoli Gardens,” a neighborhood where violence erupted, he said.
He said he decided to waive extradition proceedings in “the best interest of my family, community of Western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica.”
While he says he leaves his country,with “a heavy heart,” he is “fully confident that in due course I will be vindicated.”
“Pray for me, and God bless Jamaica,” he said.
Coke has maintained a heroic reputation in the Kingston slums, with some people comparing him to Robin Hood, Jesus and one-time Colombian kingpin Pablo Escobar.
His popularity stemmed from his community efforts, including handing out food, sending children to school and building medical centers. But drug enforcement officials say he deserves to be classified as one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords.
