The Dudus Connection

Dudus - photo Sunday Herald

Things are starting to unravel in Jamaica, as the drug money link between dons and politicians,  starts to get the media attention it deserves.

The United States want Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke – the notorious don man of Tivoli Gardens, West Kingston for trafficking drugs and guns.   But will the ruling Jamaica Labour Party give him up?

The connections are many.   They are outlined here and include,

a construction company called Incomparable Enterprises, where Dudus is a partner was awarded three govt contracts by the JLP valued at $ US  400 thousand.

Another contract worth a $US 150,000 contract, was given to transport materials to Riverton City landfill.

Dudus heads up the entertainment company Presidential Click which organises the very popular Champions In Action event.

Police say that Dudus also owns several residences, including this house in Plantation Heights, Red Hills, St Andrew.

This is Dudus's house in Red Hills- looks real nice

This house is a far cry from the living conditions of the residents of Tivoli Gardens, people are said to fear him and love him.  I’ve written more about passa passa in this blog post - a dance he keeps which is not subject to the 2am noise laws.

Conditions in Tivoli are not so lavish- photo by miss patricia

The former national security minister – Peter Phillips from the opposition Peoples’ National Party has spoken up on the issue, predictably saying the government should give Dudus to the Americans.

So what’s stopping them?  Dudus’s money has bought him alot of power in the JLP, will it be enough to protect him?

 

They want Dudus

Photo by Seen -- Tivoli Gardens at night

The notorious Tivoli Gardens Don Man, Dudus, who lives not in that ghetto, but in the luxury of upper St Andrews.  He’s now wanted by the US government who are reported to be filing extradition papers.  They want him for  drug trafficking.

I’ve written about Dudus on this blog before – see some more background on him in this post, and also this post.

Dudus’s father was Lester Lloyd Coke aka Jim Brown – now dead, he was also wanted by the US authorities in 1988 who accused him of running a multi million dollar drug ring known as the shower posse; so named for spraying showers of bullets in over a 1,000 alleged murders. Read all about Jim Brown here.

Could this be a classic case of like father like son?

Perhaps so, but with the war on drugs and the need to get those higher up the chain behind bars, getting Dudus may well be a good catch for the US.

As I was reading about Dudus’s father, I found that the man who was said to be the brains behind his whole operation (Vivian Blake) is now out of US prison and back in Jamaica – god I bet he’s got some stories to tell. Where that guy at?

More on Jamaica’s Dons

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke

So there were always two don men that are still widely known.  Two men who will probably go down in folklore and where rumour and legend follow.  They are the two Dons of West Kingston Zekes and Dudus.  Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke is the don from Tivoli Gardens and by all accounts, is still going strong.   I tried to do a search on Duddus to see what he is up to nowadays and all seems to have gone abit quiet, he must be thinking he needs to lower his profile in the press.  he does continue to maintain status in the community though as I heard he held two parties for his “earthday” in March of this year.  this is the only picture I could find of him, i cannot verify if it is really him though as I did not take this pic myself.

The other, Donald “Zekes” Phipps, languishes in prison after what must have been a deal by the politicians to catch a big “name” to provide some legitimacy to Operation Kingfish -  the crime operation which works with Scotland Yard in the UK.

Zekes has been back in court recently because he wants back this money (18 million Jamaican dollars) that he claimed did not belong to him when the police came and raided his house.  read about this here

I found a bareboned factfile on him – he’s been arrested many times previously and always got acquitted (friends in the right places and money in the right hands)  but this does not tell you about his supporters.  One time in 2004 when he was arrested, there were rumours he had been hurt in poilice custody and a crowd gathered, he had to come out with a megaphone to let everyone know he was alright!  His skinny frame and hesitant voice does not reveal the power that he by all accounts and purposes had.

i would love to know what connections these powerful dons and the police and the politicians, to be so widely known for so long, i mean Dudus is known as the “President” for christ sake !

There are a number of rumours I have heard of homosexuality in the gangs and of some dons.

Now, everyone wants to be a don which requires more and more brutal violence to get to the top.

Jamaica’s Dons

Jamaica’s dons represent a contradiction.  To be feared and respected at the same time.  Community leaders and criminals.  The don of Tivoli Gardens allows Passa Passa the weekly dancehall night to take place in an area often in the grip of gang warfare .  Here you can see the party and yes the dancefloor has the main road running through the middle!  One time when I was there, an army truck filled with armed soldiers passed through which was a little surreal.

Now even the government are having to recognise their power.  With the continued rise in the crime rate and with government policy fast running out of ideas, the Public defender Earl Witter has suggested including the dons in the consultation process to sort out what to do about it.  Find out more about this here….