Publication

In 2009, the US State Department requested that Jamaica extradite one Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke on charges of drug and gun trafficking. Local officials had long accused Coke, alleged leader of one of Jamaica’s most powerful gangs, of involvement in criminal activities. Yet the Jamaican government uncharacteristically delayed carrying out the request. Reflecting the country’s legacy of political linkages to crime, however, most Jamaicans reacted with resignation when they recalled that Coke and his gang operated out of a political constituency with a long history of iron-fisted gangs, enforcing voter support for the ruling political party. Politicians, people quietly commented, would not bite the hand that feeds them.