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Shower Posse

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the criminal organisation in Jamaica. For the groups of Jamaican individuals who operate in New York City, seeJamaican Posse.

Shower Posse
Founded1980s
Founding locationTivoli Gardens,Kingston,Jamaica
Years active1980s–present
TerritoryJamaica,Canada,United StatesandUnited Kingdom
EthnicityJamaican
Membership1,500–2,000 in Jamaica and 4,000–5,000 in other countries
ActivitiesDrug trafficking,arms trafficking,racketeering,andmurder
AlliesJamaica Labour Party

Shower Posseis aJamaican gang,started byLester Lloyd Coke,which is involved indrugandarms smuggling.Its home is inTivoli GardensinJamaica.It has several North American branches. The North American branches were first founded byVivian Blakein the Canadian city ofToronto, Ontario.[1]The gang operates in expatriate Jamaican communities in the US states ofNew York,New Jersey,Pennsylvania,and the city ofMiami, Florida.[1][2][3][4]

Name

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There are differing reports on the origin of the name. One theory is that it comes from the promises of its associated politicians to shower supporters with gifts.[5]Another view is that it is a reference to the gang showering opponents with bullets.[1]A third theory is that the gang got its name from theJamaica Labour Party(JLP) election slogan 'Shower', which was a response to thePNP's 'Power' that was coined fromManley's 'Power for the people' slogan in the 1970s.[6]

History

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Main article:2010 Kingston conflict

TheJamaica Labour Party-aligned Shower Posse has been provided with arms, training, and transport to the United States by theCentral Intelligence Agency(CIA).[7]

On 4 August 1985, a gun battle erupted at a picnic attended by approximately 2,000 Jamaicans inOakland, New Jersey,during which elements of the Shower Posse and Spangler Posse fromBrooklynand theBronxfought with theBoston-based Dog Posse and Tel Aviv Posse. Three people were killed, nine were wounded, and police retrieved thirty-three handguns from the scene.[8]

The Shower Posse was involved in a drug war with theJunior Black MafiainSouthwest Philadelphiaduring the 1980s and early 1990s.[9]

In 1989, former member Charles "Little Nut" Miller was charged with drug trafficking but agreed to testify against other gang leaders in order to receive immunity. In his testimony – in which he implicated himself in nine murders – Miller revealed his connection to the JLP as a "politicalenforcer",as well as to the CIA, going as far to state that" the United States made me what I am. "[10]

In 2009 theUnited Statesbegan to demand thatChristopher Coke,then leader of the Shower Posse, with extensive and well-known links to the JLP, be extradited to New York, where he would face charges of smuggling drugs and weapons.[11][12]Then prime minister of Jamaica,Bruce Golding,who was also the Member of Parliament for that district (West Kingston), initially questioned the legality of the request, claiming thatwarrantless wiretappinghad been used to collect information on Coke. However, he eventually relented, after public indignation to what many Jamaicans viewed as a cover-up to protect a politically connected drug trafficker, and on 17 May 2010 an arrest warrant was issued for Coke, leading to a state ofcivil unrestwithin Kingston, and especially Tivoli Gardens.[13][14] Coke was eventually arrested outside of Kingston on 22 June 2010. On Friday, 15 June 2012, a New York federal district court sentenced Coke to two consecutive sentences: 20 years for racketeering and conspiracy, and an additional three years for conspiracy to commit assault.

In January 2021, the former lieutenant of the Shower Posse, Harry "Harry Dog" McLeod, was shot and killed in an attack in Kingston.[15]

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The 2014 novelA Brief History of Seven KillingsbyMarlon Jamesfeatures a gang called Storm Posse, who share many features with Shower Posse, based in a fictionalised version of Tivoli Gardens named "Copenhagen City".[16]

Christopher Cokeand the Shower Posse were the subject of an episode of theNetflixdocumentary series,Drug Lords,released in 2018.[17]

References

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  1. ^abc"No remedy for 'Posse'; International drug cartel calling the shots in Toronto's northwest end." Drew Halfnight.National Post.8 May 2010. p. A14.
  2. ^James R. Zazzali (1988)."Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi".The Nevada Observer. Archived fromthe originalon 16 November 2006.
  3. ^"The Mafia in New Jersey - AFRICAN-AMERICANS - JAMAICANS - AFRO-LINEAL ORGANIZED CRIME".www.mafianj.com.Archivedfrom the original on 4 September 2012.Retrieved23 March2015.
  4. ^L Gunst (13 November 1989)."Jamaican Drug Gangs: Johnny-Too-Bad and the Sufferers".Nation.United States Department of Justice.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2023.
  5. ^"Police raise curtain on the 'Shower Posse'" Colin Freeze.The Globe and Mail.5 May 2010. p. A11.
  6. ^"The Cokes then and now - News".Jamaica Observer.Archived fromthe originalon 20 February 2015.Retrieved23 March2015.
  7. ^Edmonds, Kevin (2016). "Guns, gangs and garrison communities in the politics of Jamaica".Race & Class.57(4). SAGE Journals: 54–74.doi:10.1177/0306396815624864.S2CID146933185.
  8. ^Investigations, United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Governmental Affairs. Permanent Subcommittee on (1988).Organized Crime: 25 Years After Valachi: Hearings Before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the Committee on Governmental Affairs.U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 726.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2023.
  9. ^Seth Ferranti (25 October 2011)."Street legends: Aaron Jones".GorillaConvict.com.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2023.
  10. ^"The CIA, the Cold War, and Cocaine: The Connections of Christopher" Dudus "Coke".NACLA.Archivedfrom the original on 21 December 2012.Retrieved23 March2015.
  11. ^"Tension in Tivoli as US awaits word on Dudus's extradition - News".Jamaica Observer.Archived fromthe originalon 20 February 2015.Retrieved23 March2015.
  12. ^"EDITORIAL - This is not Somalia, we hope".The Gleaner. 9 September 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 9 September 2009.
  13. ^"Jamaica Declares State of Emergency".CBS News. The Associated Press. 23 May 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2023.Retrieved25 May2010.
  14. ^"Jamaica Declares State of Emergency".The New York Times.Reuters. 24 May 2010.Archivedfrom the original on 6 January 2023.
  15. ^"'Harry Dog', Dudus' 'ex-lieutenant', shot dead in West Kingston ".Loop News. 31 January 2021. Archived fromthe originalon 1 February 2021.Retrieved4 February2021.
  16. ^Lazar, Zachary (23 October 2014)."'A Brief History of Seven Killings' - Marlon James ".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 14 October 2021.Retrieved11 December2016.
  17. ^"Christopher Coke: Jamaica's Narco Prince".Drug Lords.Season 2. Episode 3. Internet Movie Database.Archivedfrom the original on 28 May 2023.
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