Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding vowed tough action against a frenzy of gang violence in Kingston, imposing a state of emergency to curb armed supporters of an alleged druglord sought by the US.
Golding said that criminals would “not be allowed to triumph,” as gang members rampaged through the capital, clashing with police and burning a police station to the ground, leaving at least one person dead.
Gunmen from various communities across the Caribbean nation of 2.8 million had joined with criminal elements, in a bid to protect reputed gang leader Christopher “Dudus” Coke, who faces a US extradition request, police said.
“The criminal element who have placed the society under siege will not be allowed to triumph,” Golding said late on Sunday in an address to the nation.
He described the situation as “a calculated assault on the authority of the state that cannot be tolerated, and will not be allowed to continue.”
Golding said the state of emergency in Kingston “will be a turning point for us as a nation to confront the powers of evil that have penalized the society and earned us the unenviable label as one of the murder capitals of the world ... We must confront this criminal element with determination and unqualified resolve.”
Two police officers and a civilian were wounded by gunfire in street clashes and four police stations came under attack, police said.
One police station was set ablaze after police abandoned it having run out of bullets, they added.
People were urged to move out of the roughest neighborhoods and sections of Kingston came under siege as armed men roamed the city, taking on policemen who attempted to clear roadblocks that popped up around the city.
At least one man has been reported dead after he was shot in a van in front of one of the police stations, Fletcher’s Land, which came under sustained gunfire.
Police said gangs had stockpiled a large cache of weapons, including large-gauge rifles, all apparently to protect Coke and stop his extradition on drug and gun trafficking charges that could put him away for life.
Coke, 42, is the reputed leader of the Shower gang with branches all over the US.
He also heads the Tivoli Gardens community, which Golding represents in the Jamaican parliament.
The US accuses Shower Posse members, under Coke’s direction, of having sold marijuana and crack cocaine in New York City and other areas, funneling profits back to him.
A state of emergency was declared in Kingston and St Andrew after Golding held an emergency meeting of his Cabinet early on Sunday and will last for at least a month.
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