Jamaica: State of emergency in Kingston

[AdamG]

Kingston, Jamaica (CNN) -- Jamaican authorities declared a state of emergency in Kingston after gang members supportive of an alleged drug lord wanted by the United States attacked police stations and blockaded a large swath of the city.

Two police stations were evacuated after being hit with Molotov cocktails, while the status of a third was unclear.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/am...ica/index.html

See also
http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...25&postcount=6

[bourbon]

Coke was charged in August by the attorney's office in New York, which accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the "Shower Posse."

I remember a similar case from the early 1990’s.

[AdamG]

Originally Posted by bourbon

I remember a similar case from the early 1990’s.

I think it's obvious, there's only one man we can count on to hold the line down there.

Meanwhile, back on the funny pages...

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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100523/...lum_standoff_1

[davidbfpo]

From the BBC:http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/lat...a/10148973.stm

One wonders if the suspect will remain at liberty for long.

[AdamG]

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) - Thousands of heavily armed police and soldiers continued an assault into the capital's most violent slums on Tuesday, hunting for weapons and battling die-hard defenders of a powerful Jamaican gang leader sought by the U.S. Officials said at least 30 people have died.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...how_article=1:)

[AdamG]

Originally Posted by AdamG

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php...how_article=1:)

Gotta love RUMINT.

While Mr. Coke remains at large, wild rumors have spread through the capital. One has him directing a counterattack from his stronghold; another that he has fled to a hideout in Jamaica's mountains.

Reports have circulated on Jamaican radio of battalions of "gun men" earning as much as $100,000 a day to resist police and build barricades, but couldn't be confirmed. Jamaica's daily newspapers report that demonstrators protesting Mr. Coke arrest have interfered with police actions, a tactic similar to events in Mexico's drug war in recent months.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...664699278.html

[AdamG]

Interesting commentary about the group-think of the local citizenry.

One of the dimensions of garrison life that intrigues me is garrison spirituality. It seems many people who live in garrisons like West Kingston, and especially Tivoli Gardens, embrace a conflation of Christianity and its Christology or messiah theology and their understanding of the strongman or don who is seen as a local messiah. It is obvious that the perception held of their leader by many residents of garrisons is built on their understanding of Jesus' life and mission. They embrace Jesus' role in delivering humanity from spiritual bankruptcy, but they move beyond that to fill a perceived void in the non-spiritual world for a socio-political messiah to deliver them from socio-political bondage. What bothers me is that their messiah theology is articulated in the reverse. It is reversed garrison Christology in that rather than the garrison "messiah" dying for his people, they are willing and ready to die for him.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/colum...omenon_7644210

[AdamG]

(Reuters) - At least 73 people died this week as Jamaican security forces stormed a Kingston slum and battled armed supporters of an alleged drug lord wanted for extradition to the United States, police said on Thursday.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE64Q6BP20100527

It's getting complicated and fraught with coincidences.

BUSINESSMAN Keith Clarke was yesterday shot dead as members of the security forces stormed his Kirkland Heights, Red Hills, community in Upper St Andrew in search of alleged drug lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke. Clarke, 63, is the brother of former People's National Party Government minister Claude Clarke.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...-death_7655366

and
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead1.html

Some Trench Town residents have insisted that there were more women and children killed in the military assault on Tivoli Gardens than the authorities are letting on.

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/glean...ead/lead6.html

[davidbfpo]

A well written first article:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...llion?page=0,1 and a general article: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...oby-traps.html

The later I noted refers to the sought drug lord's father:

Coke's father Lloyd, the previous 'don' of Tivoli, was killed in a mysterious fire while awaiting extradition to the US in a Jamaican prison in 1991.

What I am puzzled by and in principle critical of the USA seeking the extradition of such a "drug lord". Not that this has not happened before in this hemisphere. Why cannot the USA, presumably with the DEA as the 'lead' agency, present its evidence to a Jamaican court and try hard to secure a conviction? Note, Jamaica does have jury trials and the court could sit beyond Jamaica (akin to the Lockerbie trial in a Scottish court in Holland). Even with the "drug lord" tried in his absence, but not a defence lawyer.

Leaving aside the current human cost, did the USA consider what would be the impact on Jamaica, a less-developed country with a few problems? Just a few thoughts on how Jamaica could be "messed up" further:

1) Threats to the tourist areas @ Montego Bay and Ochos Rios, including cruise liners and consequent economic impact

2) A response by the "drug lords" to change their political allegiances from the traditional parties to a new party

3) An info war campaign by the sought "drug lord" to undermine the credibility of the state, along the lines of 'Catch me if you can".

A third background article:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...udus-Coke.html

[AdamG]

KINGSTON - Alleged drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke was arrested by police on the outskirts of Kingston on Tuesday, peacefully ending a manhunt for the fugitive at the center of last month's deadly raids in the Jamaican capital.

Coke, 42, is wanted for extradition to the United States on drug and gun trafficking charges. Police said they arrested him without violence at a road checkpoint in the Portmore area of St. Catherine Parish.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37860473..._news-americas

[davidbfpo]

A BBC report, that IMHO poses many questions and has few answers: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/lat...a/10386028.stm

I note the police arrest was as Coke was en route to surrender to the US Embassy, allegedly pre-arranged. Now, will he survive to appear in an extradition hearing in Jamaica?

[AdamG]

Originally Posted by davidbfpo

Now, will he survive to appear in an extradition hearing in Jamaica?

Depends on what he knows that could bring down other folks, doesn't it?
Place your bets now.

“Questions are a burden to others; answers a prison for oneself.”

[davidbfpo]

BBC News just had a news clip showing him in US custody and I think a voice said en route to New York. Not that anything odd ever happens in a Federal prison.

[AdamG]

This tale is turning into a Guy Ritchie screenplay.

Wearing an Afro wig, baseball cap, woman’s clothes and spectacles, this was the appearance of the kingpin at the centre of violence in Jamaica when he was finally arrested.

Photo and more guffaws at : http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...#ixzz0s09TVM45

[Jedburgh]

SAS, 2 Nov 10: Confronting the Don: The Political Economy of Gang Violence in Jamaica

....This report presents an overview of the history, prevalence, and distribution of gangs, focusing in particular on their involvement in international drug and arms trafficking and the possible influence of deportees from the United States. It finds that there is a dense social web connecting highly organized, transnational gangs to the loosely organized gangs whose activities are often indistinguishable from broader community and interpersonal violence. It finds that contemporary gangs in Jamaica have their roots in the organized political violence of the 1940s. Though the political facilitation of crime has declined since the country’s bloodiest national elections in 1980, it remains an enduring—though less overt—force. The persistent facilitation of gang activity by politicians continues to hinder targeted violence reduction efforts, despite the government’s vociferous public condemnation of crime and violence and official support of both punitive and social approaches to violence reduction....

[AdamG]

JAMAICA'S food security is under threat and measures must be instituted now to prevent a disaster, two technical experts have said.

Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...#ixzz1VEDdF3Mn

Jamaica is looking at Costa Rica is a model to fight crime as the Jamaica Constabulary Force is pushing to bring the country's murder rate in line with that of Costa Rica in seven years and believes the proposed anti-gang legislation will serve as a critical tool.

http://www.insidecostarica.com/daily...ca11080504.htm

[davidbfpo]

I did spot an update on the extradited "drug lord" being sentenced in NYC to twenty years and nearly missed this article based on interviewing the British police officer sent to help Jamaica's police. He has now retired and living there, a not uncommon result of imbibing the Jamaican brew.

Link:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012...aican-policing

[davidbfpo]

After a FOI request some documents have been released, with large sections redacted; so the summary may suffice:

The documents suggest that U.S. special forces were deployed to Jamaica during the operation to arrest Coke, where they were “developing situational awareness and monitoring developments on the ground,” and regularly reporting back to Southern Command. The unredacted portions of the documents do not make reference to participation by U.S. special forces in the May 24, 2010 assault on Tivoli Gardens. So on my reading, these documents contain the first hard evidence that U.S. forces were deployed in Jamaica at the time of the assault, though it is not clear exactly what they were doing.

Several portions of the documents confirm the U.S.-directed P-3 surveillance flights. The documents note that the flights were observed by “open sources.” This likely refers to an image taken by a photographer for the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper.

Link:http://www.mattathiasschwartz.com/do...thern-command/

[AdamG]

The Canadian SF have a presence on that island as well.

The Canadian Forces have sealed a deal with Jamaica to set up an operations hub in the country’s capital, Kingston, for future operations in the Caribbean.

The hub – essentially access to facilities at a port, airport and military base – will serve as a staging ground if the Canadian Forces need to mount an operation in the region, either because of threat, for drug-interdiction campaigns, or to provide relief after natural disaster like the earthquake that struck Haiti in 2010.

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/po...service=mobile

Article on training, 2009
http://www.legionmagazine.com/en/ind...es-in-jamaica/