A Case Built in New York Against a Jamaican Kingpin By BENJAMIN WEISER

. In October 2007, federal drug enforcement agents were questioning a man who had been arrested in the Bronx on gun and drug charges when he began to talk about someone he depicted as one of the most powerful men in all of Jamaica, records show. The Jamaica Gleaner, via Associated Press

Prosecutors say Christopher Coke's operatives in New York send him drug proceeds.
Forces Hunt Target of Raid (May 27, 2010) The man, Lloyd Reid,  said he was referring to Christopher Coke, the notorious gang leader whose resistance to extradition to New York has led to violence and deaths this week in Jamaica as the authorities have hunted for him. 
In seeking Mr. Cokes extradition, Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, has charged that for more than a decade he has controlled an international drug ring from his neighborhood stronghold of Tivoli Gardens in Kingston. Prosecutors say Mr. Cokes operatives in New York send him part of their drug proceeds and buy guns that they ship to him.

In Jamaica, he distributes the firearms, bolstering his authority and influence, a federal indictment charges. 
The prosecutors office has not made public its extradition papers against Mr. Coke, but court records in New York show that investigators have been building a case against him through court-approved wiretaps and the questioning of people like Mr. Reid. 
The records offer a snapshot of how investigators believe Mr. Cokes influence extends to the streets of New York, and suggest how the drug dealing here may have helped fortify what the indictment calls Mr. Cokes garrison community in Jamaica, a barricaded neighborhood guarded by a group of armed gunmen.

Prosecutors have said that Mr. Reid, who was convicted last year of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and is serving a five-year prison sentence, was an enforcer for Mr. Coke in New York
In talks with agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Mr. Reid said he had a close relationship with Mr. Coke because his brother had once served as Mr. Cokes right-hand man in Jamaica before he was murdered, records show.

But there was another reason, Mr. Reid told agents. He and Mr. Coke became close because they spent time together in the Bronx, where Mr. Coke once lived, according to testimony by Eric Baldus, one of the drug enforcement agents who interviewed Mr. Reid. 
That Mr. Coke lived in the United States is not widely known; officials say he was convicted in 1988 in North Carolina of possession of stolen property and deported the following year. 
Mr. Reid said he was often called upon to resolve disagreements among Mr. Cokes operatives because people knew of his relationship with Mr. Coke, the notes show. And when problems needed resolution by a higher authority, he indicated, he relayed information to Mr. Coke.

Coke is the one who has the power to stop or settle all disputes, Mr. Reid stated, the notes show. 
Mr. Reids lawyer, Jeremy Schneider, disputes the governments characterization of his client. Mr. Schneider noted that Mr. Reid was convicted in a conspiracy that involved less than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. He was also convicted of robbery conspiracy but acquitted of using a firearm in a drug trafficking crime.

He was found guilty of being a low-level marijuana dealer, Mr. Schneider said. He was clearly not a high-level operative representing Coke in the United States. He added that there was a previous familial relationship between Mr. Coke and his clients family. 
Prosecutors say that while guns and money were sent to Jamaica as part of Mr. Cokes operation, he and his organization, called the Shower Posse, also sent something back they provided protection for their operatives in the United States.

The relationship between the operatives and supporters in Jamaica was critical to the ability to traffic in marijuana here, Jocelyn Strauber, a federal prosecutor, said in a pretrial proceeding in Mr. Reids case.

Prosecutors have said in court papers that some of their evidence comes from court-authorized surveillance of what they call Mr. Cokes co-conspirators. 
A transcript of one call, which was introduced at Mr. Reids trial last year in Federal District Court in Manhattan, shows him discussing Mr. Coke with a close associate. Mr. Reid quotes Mr. Coke as saying, You represent me in America, the document shows. 
Mr. Reid also quotes Mr. Coke as saying: Dont you see our thing is a worldwide thing? Nobody will mess with us.

Mr. Coke, 41, has been charged with conspiring to distribute marijuana and cocaine and to illegally traffic in firearms. If he is extradited and convicted, he could face a life sentence. 

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Christopher Dudus Coke of Jamaica may seek political asylum


An alleged Jamaican drug baron at the centre of this weeks uprising in Kingston is seeking political asylum abroad, according to a British solicitor who has spoken to him.



Hannah Harris Barrington said she talked to Christopher Dudus Coke seven times as loyalists barricaded his stronghold in the Kingston slum of Tivoli Gardens to block his extradition to the US. She said Mr Coke, 42, reputed to be head of the Shower Posse drug gang, feared that security forces wanted to kill him to prevent him talking about his ties to powerful politicians.



Mr Cokes bastion is the constituency of Bruce Golding, Jamaicas Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, who tried for months to shield him from extradition before ordering his arrest on May 17. He wishes to seek political asylum. He told me he is willing to turn himself in, Ms Harris Barrington, who had a practice in Deptford, southeast London, until two years ago, told The Times. He is being persecuted because he gave Bruce Golding his seat in Parliament.



He is willing to disclose all the infomation that he is going to be killed for. He is willing to tell me everything about the Prime Minister how the Prime Minister came to become an MP from that area, she said. With a huge military manhunt under way, which has already resulted in the deaths of 73 people in Tivoli Gardens and elsewhere, Mr Coke may have reason to worry. His father, Lester Coke, also known as Jim Brown, ran the Shower Posse during the drug wars in the 1980s in the US in which the gang was blamed for 1,400 murders. Despite his political connections, Lester Coke was eventually arrested, but died in a 1992 prison fire before he could be extradited to the US amid speculation that powerful figures wanted to stop him talking about his political ties.



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Ms Harris Barrington, the daughter of a Jamaican bishop, moved to the island from Britain in 2008 to become a lawyer, pastor and human rights acti-vist. She made contact with Mr Coke as the stand-off grew last weekend. She said that he appeared to be in Jamaica last Saturday because she arranged to meet him although the meeting never took place.



She last spoke to him on Monday, as hundreds of soldiers stormed his slum redoubt. But she said she does not know his whereabouts. He is willing to hand himself in, but not to Mr Golding because he is going to die. There will be some story a prisoner is going to stab him or something, she said.



I said, I think you need to seek the assistance of another international state. We did not actually use the words asylum, but it is asylum.



I know he wants international assistance. He told me he is willing to give himself in.



Ms Harris Barrington said Mr Coke would clearly not seek asylum in the US, where he is listed as one of the worlds most dangerous drug lords and faces trafficking and gun-running charges that carry a possible life term.

Speculation in the local press has suggested he could escape to Venezuela, where the Government may protect him from the US. But Paul Beswick, one of Mr Cokes official lawyers, told The Times that he was not aware of any attempt by his client to seek political asylum.

Mr Cokes lawyers are reported to have been in discussions with the US Embassy in Jamaica about a possible surrender, and US Drug Enforcement Agency officials are reported to be on stand-by to fly in and collect him. But Mr Beswick would not comment on any talks with US officials. The best I can say is that various discussions are in progress in an attempt to resolve the current impasse. I could not be more specific, he said.

There are countless rumours about Mr Cokes whereabouts. US sources told ABC television that they believe he slipped into neighbouring Denham Town or Jones Town. Local reports suggested that he may have sought the protection of a friendly don, or crime figure, in nearby May Pen.

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