Tweet
Extradition request filed for Tivoli don
Friday, August 28, 2009
Foreign Affairs Minister Kenneth Baugh yesterday confirmed that the US Government has formally requested the extradition of influential Tivoli Gardens don and businessman, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
"The Government has been notified and discussions are taking place. It is principally the prerogative of the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General's office," Baugh told the Observer.
Extradition requests are first sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which must pass them on to the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General. The documents eventually end up on the desk of the Director of Public Prosecutions who will rule if arrest warrants must be drawn up.
Coke is allegedly wanted on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Prominent attorney, Tom Tavares-Finson, who has represented Coke and his family in the past, told the Observer yesterday that he had no idea what his client was wanted for as Coke had no connections with the United States.
"I don't know what they want him for. I don't have any access to the documents yet," Tavares-Finson said.
Tavares-Finson also said he was not sure if Coke would turn himself in.
Under the Extradition Treaty, accused persons do not have to sell illicit drugs in the US to be convicted in that country.
In January, Norris 'Deedo' Nembhard, who was extradited to the US in July last year, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a Florida court.
Nembhard had contended that he had never travelled to the United States but was convicted on the evidence of a man who claimed to have been trafficking drugs for him and other persons.
Nembhard, who was designated by former US president George W Bush as a drug kingpin, was extradited along with brothers, Glenroy and Robroy 'Spy' Williams, Vivian Dalley and former police corporal Herbert 'Scarry' Henry.
The man who gave evidence against Nembhard was Williams' nephew, who was held in international waters aboard a go-fast boat laden with over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine.
He was reportedly offered a plea bargain deal by the US authorities and gave up his former cronies.
Yesterday, a highly placed Observer source said the request for Coke's arrest and extradition is one of many to come.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has reportedly been probing the activities of senior politicians, police officers and sportsmen who are allegedly involved in the illegal trade of contraband.
Coke is the son of Lester Lloyd Coke, popularly known as 'Jim Brown', who died in February 1992 in a mysterious fire which broke out in his cell at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre.
'Jim Brown' was held by local cops after the US Government requested his extradition for a series of crimes committed in that country.
Along with his confidante, Vivian Blake, 'Jim Brown' was accused of running a multi-million-dollar drug-dealing gang known as the Shower Posse, which wreaked havoc in several major US cities.
According to the US authorities, the Shower Posse was responsible for more than 1,000 murders and gained the name because of its members' habit of spraying their victims with bullets.
Blake has since been released from prison in the US, after spending eight years, and deported.
In October 2005, Coke was held and charged with possession of ganja when police raided his lavish upper St Andrew residence.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...TS__DUDUS_.asp
Friday, August 28, 2009
Foreign Affairs Minister Kenneth Baugh yesterday confirmed that the US Government has formally requested the extradition of influential Tivoli Gardens don and businessman, Christopher 'Dudus' Coke.
"The Government has been notified and discussions are taking place. It is principally the prerogative of the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General's office," Baugh told the Observer.
Extradition requests are first sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which must pass them on to the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney General. The documents eventually end up on the desk of the Director of Public Prosecutions who will rule if arrest warrants must be drawn up.
Coke is allegedly wanted on drug trafficking and conspiracy charges.
Prominent attorney, Tom Tavares-Finson, who has represented Coke and his family in the past, told the Observer yesterday that he had no idea what his client was wanted for as Coke had no connections with the United States.
"I don't know what they want him for. I don't have any access to the documents yet," Tavares-Finson said.
Tavares-Finson also said he was not sure if Coke would turn himself in.
Under the Extradition Treaty, accused persons do not have to sell illicit drugs in the US to be convicted in that country.
In January, Norris 'Deedo' Nembhard, who was extradited to the US in July last year, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in a Florida court.
Nembhard had contended that he had never travelled to the United States but was convicted on the evidence of a man who claimed to have been trafficking drugs for him and other persons.
Nembhard, who was designated by former US president George W Bush as a drug kingpin, was extradited along with brothers, Glenroy and Robroy 'Spy' Williams, Vivian Dalley and former police corporal Herbert 'Scarry' Henry.
The man who gave evidence against Nembhard was Williams' nephew, who was held in international waters aboard a go-fast boat laden with over 1,000 kilograms of cocaine.
He was reportedly offered a plea bargain deal by the US authorities and gave up his former cronies.
Yesterday, a highly placed Observer source said the request for Coke's arrest and extradition is one of many to come.
The Drug Enforcement Agency has reportedly been probing the activities of senior politicians, police officers and sportsmen who are allegedly involved in the illegal trade of contraband.
Coke is the son of Lester Lloyd Coke, popularly known as 'Jim Brown', who died in February 1992 in a mysterious fire which broke out in his cell at the Tower Street Adult Correctional Centre.
'Jim Brown' was held by local cops after the US Government requested his extradition for a series of crimes committed in that country.
Along with his confidante, Vivian Blake, 'Jim Brown' was accused of running a multi-million-dollar drug-dealing gang known as the Shower Posse, which wreaked havoc in several major US cities.
According to the US authorities, the Shower Posse was responsible for more than 1,000 murders and gained the name because of its members' habit of spraying their victims with bullets.
Blake has since been released from prison in the US, after spending eight years, and deported.
In October 2005, Coke was held and charged with possession of ganja when police raided his lavish upper St Andrew residence.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...TS__DUDUS_.asp
Comment