JAMAICANS BREATHED a cautious sigh of relief yesterday after the capture of Christopher “Dudus” Coke provoked no immediate backlash from his armed followers.
Authorities appealed to the alleged drug lord’s Shower Posse militia to remain calm and promised that their leader, who was arrested on Tuesday without a shot being fired, would not be harmed in custody pending possible extradition to the US.
However, police exacted a non-violent revenge on Coke, whose gang has clashed with security forces, by releasing a photo of him in a women’s wig he was said to be wearing when captured.
The disguise provoked mockery from a population which had long regarded the elusive fugitive with a mixture of fear, awe and respect. When security forces stormed his Kingston stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in an effort to catch him last month mayhem erupted, leaving 76 dead.
One newspaper cartoon portrayed the hefty 42-year-old in drag, another compared him to a pretty girl. Yet another depicted him as a dethroned king sitting on a bullet-holed throne.
Local media reported police laughed upon discovering the wig, which was said to be pink.
“I guess bad man do wear lotion and powda after all,” commented one reader.
Police intercepted Coke, who is wanted in the US on drugs and gun-running charges, as he was on his way to the US embassy.
The gang leader apparently planned to hand himself over to the Americans for safety after his father died in a prison cell fire which some believe was intended to prevent him linking politicians to the island’s underworld.
Shortly after the arrest authorities declared a curfew in large parts of Kingston and warned of a possible backlash.
The man described as the “don of criminal dons”, and until recently widely regarded as the most powerful man in Jamaica, was being held in a heavily fortified police station in Kingston. He was expected to make his first court appearance within 48 hours.
Authorities must quickly decide whether to charge Coke in relation to the death of two police officers and one soldier during the violent security force sweep through Tivoli Gardens.
That would delay, possibly by years, his extradition to the US, where he faces life in jail if convicted of trafficking cocaine, marijuana and weapons.
– ( Guardianservice)