Gangs Set Barricades in Jamaica to Protest Extradition

[Flaneur]

Source: Agence-France Presse

KINGSTON — Gangs have amassed weapons and erected street barricades in the Jamaican capital to protest the extradition of a reputed gang leader, police said, as the United States warned travelers of possible civil unrest.

Kingston police Friday called on residents of Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town to dismantle the barricades they erected during a massive demonstration Thursday in support of Christopher "Dudus" Coke. They also said that criminal gangs have stockpiled a large cache of weapons in the area, including big-gauge rifles, all apparently to protect Coke and stop his extradition to the United States on drug and gun trafficking charges that could put him away for life.

Coke, 42, is the reputed leader of the Shower Posse gang with branches all over the United States, and also heads the Tivoli Gardens community, which Prime Minister Bruce Golding represents in the Jamaican Parliament. The United States accuses Shower Posse members, under Coke's direction, of having sold marijuana and crack cocaine in New York City and other areas of the United States, funneling profits back to him.

But for local Kingston residents, Coke is more like a godfather. Thousands marched through the city Thursday chanting, "Leave Dudus alone, leave Dudus alone."

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Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ihFaJqlS9C4W-GSgoHRSXGJdtAwA

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This has been brewing for awhile. The State Department issued a travel advisory Thursday.

[Flaneur]

1. More from the article:

Unrest in Kingston began earlier this week after the government on Tuesday signed the US extradition request for Dudus and issued an arrest warrant for him to appear in court pending a final decision on whether he goes or stays.

Lawyers representing Coke on Friday failed in their bid to have the courts overturn the government-signed arrest warrant. They argued the extradition request was signed illegally since Prime Minister Golding had earlier refused to sign it making it clear that the United States had broken Jamaican law to obtain evidence.

The US State Department on Friday issued a travel warning urging US citizens to weigh the risks of traveling to and within the Kingston metropolitan area. "The possibility exists for violence and/or civil unrest in the greater Kingston metropolitan area," the State Department said. "There are unconfirmed reports of criminal gang members amassing in the Kingston area, as well as mobilization of Jamaican defense forces.

[Knight Hawk]

2. Not really new

I had a Jamaican national,a good friend,tell me 25 years ago when I was planning a trip to Jamaica to avoid Kingston.It has had one of the highest murder rates in the world for years.

[Jkid]

4. Why Kingston has the highest murder rates in the world for so long?

[JCMach1]

3. Is this just the catylyst for other things going on there?

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