Alleged drugs lord ‘Dudus’ Coke captured in Jamaica

The alleged drugs lord Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, wanted for extradition from Jamaica to the United States on drugs and gun-running charges, has finally been arrested. His car was stopped at a roadblock outside Kingston, the island's capital, and he is now being held at a secure military facility.

The 42-year-old was in the company of an evangelical preacher, the Rev Al Miller, who recently helped arrange the recent surrender of Coke's brother and sister.

Coke is understood to have contracted police yesterday and asked for help in turning himself in at the US Embassy, saying he was willing to forgo an extradition hearing and was ready to face trial in the US. He and Miller were on their way to the embassy when police stopped the car.

Attempts by Jamaican troops and police to capture Coke in May led to chaos in west Kingston. At least 70 people died as his local community in Tivoli Gardens tried to protect him.

Coke is alleged to be the leader of the Shower Posse cartel - so-called for its members' habit of showering their enemies with bullets - which he took over on the death of his father Lester Lloyd Coke in 1992.

As The First Post reported last month, his reputation in Kingston is part Robin Hood and part Mafia godfather. He enjoys respect not just for ensuring peace in the neighbourhoods he controls, but for creating jobs.

The Jamaican senator Tom Tavares Finson, who until recently served as Coke's lawyer, said: "Essentially he has overseen the transformation of a community riddled with criminality and violence into a place where people can make money."

Jamaican police are on high alert. Commissioner Owen Ellington has appealed "to the families, friends and sympathisers of Christopher Coke to remain calm". ·