Dudus: Christopher Coke Captured in Jamaica

June 22, 2010 — -- Christopher "Dudus" Coke, an accused Jamaican drug lord wanted by the U.S. on federal drug and weapon charges, has been captured in Jamaica, federal officials say. According to the officials, Jamaican police say that they have captured him and are prepared to turn him over to U.S. authorities.

"Coke is in custody," drug enforcement officials told ABC News. The DEA Air Wing is standing by and once it is clear that Coke will be turned over to U.S. authorities by the Jamaicans he will be transported to the Southern District of New York, where he is under indictment.

"Christopher Michael Coke was arrested by Jamaican authorities earlier today near Kingston after a five-week pursuit by local authorities," said Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "We look forward to working closely with the Jamaican authorities to bring Coke to justice to face charges pending against him in Manhattan federal court."

Coke's attorney contacted U.S. authorities yesterday advising that Coke was considering turning himself in to the U.S. It was the first communication that U.S. authorities had had with Coke's attorney in several weeks.

US Marshals, DEA agents and federal prosecutors had worked hand in hand with senior Jamaican military and police officials in an effort to effect Coke's surrender and extradition.

More than 70 Jamaicans, including both civilians and security officers, died after Jamaican authorities began moving in on Coke's barricaded West Kingston neighborhood in an attempt to capture him late last month. The U.S. has wanted to extradite Coke since 2009, but the Jamaican government had resisted until May.

The police and military effort to capture Coke and curb the violence brought thousands of uniformed men into Kingston's streets. Jamaican authorities allege that Coke brought in gunmen from other parts of Jamaica and other Caribbean islands to fight back and help prevent his capture.

The 2009 U.S. indictment of Coke charges that he shipped firearms back to Jamaica from the U.S. The island nation has one of the highest murder rates in the Western Hemisphere. Nearly 1700 people were slain in 2009, out of a population of about three million, and as 2010 approaches the halfway mark about 1300 have already been killed.

U.S. authorities said they believed Coke escaped through a ring of hundreds of cops and soldiers who had surrounded the West Kingston neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens. Jamaican and U.S. authorities reported that Coke may have slipped through police lines and escaped into one of two adjoining areas, either Denham Town or Jones Town.