Gun Battle Rages As Jamaican Government Attempts To Arrest Aptronymic Druglord

Wow. Here is a story that seems likely to be made into many raps songs and eventually a feature film. The Jamaican government is trying to arrest a notorious Kingston gang leader for extradition to New York. But he’s not going quietly. As the Times reports: “Security forces broke through barbed-wire barricades and fought their way into the warren-like Tivoli Gardens neighborhood Monday afternoon. Sporadic gunfire could be heard into the night echoing across the darkened slums, where authorities cut off power. Military helicopters flying with their lights off buzzed overhead. Masked gunmen swarmed around West Kingston trying to prevent the extradition of Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, who has been indicted in New York on drug and arms trafficking charges. The U.S. Justice Department considers him one of the world’s most dangerous drug lords.”

Coke’s gang is linked to the Labor party, currently in power in Jamaica, and the government had been refusing to act on U.S. pressure to arrest him for nine months. The gang is known as the “Shower Posse” due to their proclivity for showering their enemies with bullets. The government announced their intention to arrest Coke last week, and since Sunday, when the operation started, two police officers and one soldier have been killed. The footage in this ABC news report is crazy. Much more war zone than police procedure.

UPDATE: Willy Staley of the Bay Area rap site Nation of Thizzlam alerts us to the fact that there already is a rap album named after Coke and co. It’s from the duo Jacka and Husalah, and it came out in 2006. Proving that the Shower Posse has been notorious for a long time.