Archive for the ‘tivoli’ Tag
Coke Court date set
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, crime, dudus, gardens, jamaica, june, tivoli
Comments (3) The trial of Christopher Dudus Coke will begin on September 12th 2011.
He’s been awaiting a date since he was arrested in June 2010 and then extradited to the US on drug and gun charges.
The main thing going on before that date is the motion filed by Dudus lawyers to throw out wiretap evidence, used in the extradition order against him. That would be pretty crucial in the case – his lawyers argue that it contravened Jamaican law to hand it over to the Americans.
But as Coke continues to be holed up inside a cell in the US, how are things on the outside in Tivoli Gardens. West Kingston?
The govt say they are dealing with crime with an ‘iron fist’ reporting 700 fewer murders over the last year. The police also say they are making significant inroads in efforts to eradicate gangs, dismantling 50 per cent of the 57 targeted since the New Year. Is it leading to safer streets and will it last I wonder?
Dudus aftermath – 1 year on
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2011, aftermath, christopher, coke, dudus, gardens, jamaica, kingston, may, tivoli
Comments (3) Christopher Coke, aka Dudus has been in US custody on narcotics and firearms charges for nearly a year now and there is still no sign of a trial date. He made his 7th court appearance in Manhattan today – Tuesday May 10th, 2011. No-one’s talking to the press yet, but despite this, there’s already a book out about him, called ‘Jamaica’s First President’ , he was known locally as the Prezzie for short.
Zinc fencing photo by Benjamin Lozovsky
So what is going on in Tivoli gardens since his removal? At the time, there was much talk about the power vacuum that would be left behind in his wake, which would lead to more violence and gang warfare. I wrote this blog post about it around that time and also Kingston Mayor Desmond Mckenzie met with US Embassy officials, as detailed in a leaked wikileaks cable – read more about that here.
PM Golding on a wall
Meanwhile, the Jamaican JLP Bruce Golding government has stubbornly clung on to an illusion of power, through an enquiry into the Manatt Phelps and Phillips affair – which basically showed how the Golding govt were protecting Dudus from US extradition all along as they were telling the Jamaican people something else entirely. It led to an admission in Parliament that he had lied to them previously. Naturally, his reputation is shot to pieces, but he thinks he can claw it all back for the general election next year.
Judging by a useless opposition leader by the name of Portia Simpson miller, this is not beyond the realms of imagination.
Life after Dudus
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: after, dudus, gangs, gardens, jamaica, kingston, life, power, re-building, repair, tivoli, vacuum, west
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Kids playing cards in Tivoli - photo by Norman Grindley Jamaica Gleaner
Normal life in Tivoli Gardens right now as illustrated in the Gleaner newspaper, but we all know things are not normal. After a decade of tight control and loyal support to West Kingston area don Dudus, everyone there must be wondering what is going to happen next.
The police are still making their presence felt, manning a couple of units that have been set up there. They are now warning that gangs in West Kingston are re-grouping.
The fight to re-establish a new don to replace the power vacuum left behind by Dudus will be strong and the police are hoping that social groups will come in to help re-build trust with police – an international inquiry into the killings a month ago, may be more effective.
Sandra Goldbourne, is from one of the agencies who are supposed to be stepping into Tivoli – she is quoted as saying they will help the community with health, housing and employment, but unless they come with money to deal with the lack of health, jobs and poor housing, spurious gang violence when the police leave the area, a few more months down the line, may well be the inevitable outcome.
Tivoli Gardens ‘torture chamber’?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: 2010, chamber, gardens, jamaica, june, kingston, may, raid, tivoli, tivoli gardens, torture
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Police say persons were hung by the arms from these nooses and beaten by thugs with a metal baseball bat.
The police and army are in control in Tivoli and it seems that for the first time in many years, they are getting the chance to have a good look around. It is reported they have found a ‘torture chamber’.
A soldier walks past a shallo grave in Tivoli
They also found a number of shallow graves where people were buried. The strict discipline held by Christopher Dudus Coke and his gang in Tivoli Gardens has been known about for some time and is the reason behind his fearsome reputation.
This was found in an area within Tivoli called Java and there’s another place near there called Rasta City.
Police say this room was used as a torture chamber. (Photos: Lionel Rookwood, Jamaica Observer)
This photo is said, by police to have been used for torture, but the detail around how they know this is sketchy, although the baseball bat looks ominous, without proper forensic evidence I don’t think it can be said for sure.
Other interesting news is that the police and army have set up a checkpoint and post in Dudus’s old offices. I’m sure they a re relishing the irony of that but is it really appropriate and what does it say about how one force (Dudus) has just been replaced by another (state security). Is one really any better than the other?
Jamaican Passport racket
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bigga, cornwall, ford, gardens. passport, illegal, jamaica, kingston, passport, racket, raid, tivoli
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Jamaican police seizures June 2010
These are some items recovered after a raid by police in downtown Kingston this week.
They were found in St John’s Lane, not far from Gordon House which is where politicians in parliament meet.
Cornwall "Bigga" Ford heads Jamaica's Flying Squad
The Flying squad – headed by Cornwall “Bigga” Ford – read more about him here, in a joint operation with the Caribbean Search Centre – run by the Jamaica Defence Force, found a number of illegal passports – both Jamaican and international ones.
It’s in the midst of a hive of police and army activity going on since the raid on Tivoli Gardens. Read this post about the raid for more info on that.
So several illegal passports and justice of the peace stamps were recovered .
Everyone knows you buy these Justice of the Peace stamps (hell, I’ve even had to buy one myself) - people who need to get abroad can always do so, as opposed to ordinary people who get stuck in an immigration nightmare.
This is the reality of organised crime – you can buy your way and do most things. But does all this activity mean that people will be prosecuted and will the tough stance be long lasting? Does this signal a real change away from the politics of corruption and links between politicians and crime or is this a quick fix until things go back to ‘normal’?
Where is Dudus?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: authorities, christopher, coke, dudus, latest, negotiating, new, surrender, tivoli, us, york
Comments (4) Well the man had nine months to think about what he should do and where he should go when the Americans come for him. So there must have been a lot of planning before the day finally arrived.
I’m not sure why people assumed he would be in Tivoli Gardens, some more photos here – although his people were ready for a fight, it didn’t make much sense that he would sit in the middle of it – he is a smart man after all.
Reports that he has been negotiating a handover directly to the US authorities are very interesting and show how scared he must be that the same fate that befell his father may also happen to him. This also indicates that he might be feeling scared about what Golding’s govt and the police want to do with him – certainly there must be a lot of anger directed towards him right now.
Other interesting devleopments – rounding up other dons in Kingston - but without the evidence to convict them – what is the point, other than trying to press them for information?
Some people think he’s moving around Kingston, others that he’s in South America (given his reported contacts there), but I reckon his forthcoming surrender is imminent. It must be hurting him how the state security services are killing people using his name to do it.
Vivian Blake is dead
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: blake, christopher, coke, dead, death, dies, don, Drugs, dudus, gardens, guns, men, shower posse, tivoli, vivian
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Ode to JLP gunmen, Tivoli Gardens Photo by Gorney66
The convicted drug boss and reported head of the ‘shower posse’, Vivian Blake has died. He came back to Jamaica last year after spending 8 years in a US jail for his leading role in a drugs gang which is thought to have been responsible for over a thousand murders.
I have written about him on this blog before click here
In that post, I write about Blake saying that he was afraid for his life and that he thought the politicians wanted him dead. All Jamaican newspapers are reporting that Blake died from an illness – read what they say here and here. Blake’s own lawyer says he had kidney disease and was on dialysis but he was admitted into hospital the day before his death following a heart attack.
All I would like to add is that this death is all the more relevant right now as Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke is facing an extradition order – which the Jamaican government is refusing to comply with. Read more on that here.
There are many similarities between the two don men, Blake and Dudus, both from Tivoli Gardens in Kingston (the Prime Minister’s own constituency), both high profile criminals with money, power – political influence and secrets. Dudus is the current leader of the same shower posse according to AP.
Just how is the Dudus situation going to end and will the truth about the relationship between Jamaica’s dons and politicians ever come out?
Corruption at the highest level
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: christopher, coke, crime. lord, criminal, don, dudus, gardens, jamaica, jamaican, man, tivoli
Comments (13) 
Dudus
The Americans have re-iterated their demand for the Jamaican Don man, and high profile crime lord – Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke on drug and gun charges.
They have wanted him to be extradited to face these serious criminal charges since August 2009 but the Jamaican government have been dragging their feet, some might say, burying their head in the sand, willing this request to go away.
So now – the US are strengthening their language and putting it out there by saying there is blatant corruption going on – as the Don Man Dudus has well reported ties to the ruling Jamaica Labour Party.
Tivoli Gardens. Kingston Photo by punkchick713
The US State department says,
“The high-profile suspect resides in and essentially controls the Kingston neighbourhood known as Tivoli Gardens, a key constituency for the Jamaica Labour Party,”
so all this ” raises serious questions about the Government’s commitment to combating transnational crime.
The Government of Jamaica’s ambitious anti-corruption and anti-crime legislative agendas announced in 2007 remain stalled in Parliament”. see more here.
So, the pressure to hand Dudus over is getting more difficult to ignore. The stakes are high because it shows up the JLP’s corruption for protecting a high profile crime lord. This in turn makes a bit of a mockery of one of the government’s top priorities, which is to reduce crime – how can they be serious about solving crime when they are seen to be protecting a wanted man? Their position is pretty untenable – best they just hand him over now and save some face.
