Jamaica drug baron awaits US sentencing
Christopher Dudas Coke faces more than 20 years in US prison after pleading guilty to drug charges.
To US law enforcement agencies, Jamaican national Christopher Dudas Coke was one of the world’s most dangerous drug barons.
To many of the people of his neigbourhood in Kingston, however, he was a respected community leader.
Coke was such a powerful figure in Jamaica that when US authorities sought his extradition in 2009, the country’s prime minister fought for nearly a year before agreeing to hand him over.
Five hundred police officers waged an armed assault on his stronghold of Tivoli Gardens and 73 people were killed in the fighting before Coke was captured in June 2010 and extradited.
Coke now faces up to 23 years in prison following a deal in which he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and assault charges.
Al Jazeera’s Keith Miller reports.