KINGSTON, Jamaica – Police in Jamaica's jittery capital urged a gang leader wanted in the U.S. on drug and arms-trafficking charges to surrender Sunday, even as tension grew behind barricades erected by his supporters to protect him.
In a gritty section of the capital of an island known more for reggae and all-inclusive resorts, defiant followers of Christopher "Dudus" Coke, a Jamaican "don" who is widely suspected of controlling gunmen in West Kingston's Tivoli Gardens, have transformed the slum into a virtual fortress cut off by trashed cars and barbed wire.
The standoff has intensified for nearly a week, since Prime Minister Bruce Golding reversed his long-standing refusal to extradite Coke to the U.S. People in the community quickly started preparing for war.
Bookmarks