Captured: Christopher "Dudus" Coke

After weeks of being hunted by Jamaican security forces, Christopher "Dudas" Coke, an alleged Jamaican drug kingpin with a fiercely loyal following in the Caribbean country, was captured at a highway checkpoint June 22, 2010 after a popular preacher convinced him to turn himself in. Coke waived extradition to the U.S. June 23, and was transported to the U.S. under heavy security June 24. He appeared in federal court June 25 and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of gunrunning and drug trafficking.

AP Photo/The Jamaica Gleaner, Norman Grindley

Coke had reportedly been on the run since the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he ran a massive drug ring in the Eastern U.S. from his Caribbean stronghold. The ensuing hunt for him by Jamaican officials, including a major offensive on Tivoli Gardens, a Kingston slum where they believed Coke was hiding, was one of the bloodiest in recent memory and claimed 76 lives. It also prompted Jamaican officials to declare a state of emergency.

Coke released a statement to the press Wednesday after waiving extradition saying that he hoped his departure would allow Jamaica to begin to heal. "I take this decision for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica," the statement said. Many poor Jamaicans see Coke as a hero who, like many "dons," seemed to provide public services and a form of law and order that the government has not been able to achieve.

U.S. prosecutors say the loyalty shown by the Kingston slum dwellers was shared by many drug dealers up and down the East Coast. In court papers, the federal prosecutors in Manhattan say drug dealers in the U.S. regularly sent "cash and goods, including clothing and electronics, to Coke as 'tribute' payments, in recognition of his leadership and assistance." The tribute payments also included firearms, the papers add. Coke faces a maximum of life in prison in the United States if convicted.

After weeks of being hunted by Jamaican security forces, Christopher "Dudas" Coke, an alleged Jamaican drug kingpin with a fiercely loyal following in the Caribbean country, was captured at a highway checkpoint June 22, 2010 after a popular preacher convinced him to turn himself in. Coke waived extradition to the U.S. June 23, and was transported to the U.S. under heavy security June 24. He appeared in federal court June 25 and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of gunrunning and drug trafficking.

Coke had reportedly been on the run since the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he ran a massive drug ring in the Eastern U.S. from his Caribbean stronghold. The ensuing hunt for him by Jamaican officials, including a major offensive on Tivoli Gardens, a Kingston slum where they believed Coke was hiding, was one of the bloodiest in recent memory and claimed 76 lives. It also prompted Jamaican officials to declare a state of emergency.

Coke released a statement to the press Wednesday after waiving extradition saying that he hoped his departure would allow Jamaica to begin to heal. "I take this decision for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica," the statement said. Many poor Jamaicans see Coke as a hero who, like many "dons," seemed to provide public services and a form of law and order that the government has not been able to achieve.

U.S. prosecutors say the loyalty shown by the Kingston slum dwellers was shared by many drug dealers up and down the East Coast. In court papers, the federal prosecutors in Manhattan say drug dealers in the U.S. regularly sent "cash and goods, including clothing and electronics, to Coke as 'tribute' payments, in recognition of his leadership and assistance." The tribute payments also included firearms, the papers add. Coke faces a maximum of life in prison in the United States if convicted.

After weeks of being hunted by Jamaican security forces, Christopher "Dudas" Coke, an alleged Jamaican drug kingpin with a fiercely loyal following in the Caribbean country, was captured at a highway checkpoint June 22, 2010 after a popular preacher convinced him to turn himself in. Coke waived extradition to the U.S. June 23, and was transported to the U.S. under heavy security June 24. He appeared in federal court June 25 and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of gunrunning and drug trafficking.

Coke had reportedly been on the run since the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he ran a massive drug ring in the Eastern U.S. from his Caribbean stronghold. The ensuing hunt for him by Jamaican officials, including a major offensive on Tivoli Gardens, a Kingston slum where they believed Coke was hiding, was one of the bloodiest in recent memory and claimed 76 lives. It also prompted Jamaican officials to declare a state of emergency.

Coke released a statement to the press Wednesday after waiving extradition saying that he hoped his departure would allow Jamaica to begin to heal. "I take this decision for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica," the statement said. Many poor Jamaicans see Coke as a hero who, like many "dons," seemed to provide public services and a form of law and order that the government has not been able to achieve.

U.S. prosecutors say the loyalty shown by the Kingston slum dwellers was shared by many drug dealers up and down the East Coast. In court papers, the federal prosecutors in Manhattan say drug dealers in the U.S. regularly sent "cash and goods, including clothing and electronics, to Coke as 'tribute' payments, in recognition of his leadership and assistance." The tribute payments also included firearms, the papers add. Coke faces a maximum of life in prison in the United States if convicted.

After weeks of being hunted by Jamaican security forces, Christopher "Dudas" Coke, an alleged Jamaican drug kingpin with a fiercely loyal following in the Caribbean country, was captured at a highway checkpoint June 22, 2010 after a popular preacher convinced him to turn himself in. Coke waived extradition to the U.S. June 23, and was transported to the U.S. under heavy security June 24. He appeared in federal court June 25 and pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of gunrunning and drug trafficking.

Coke had reportedly been on the run since the U.S. issued a warrant for his arrest on charges that he ran a massive drug ring in the Eastern U.S. from his Caribbean stronghold. The ensuing hunt for him by Jamaican officials, including a major offensive on Tivoli Gardens, a Kingston slum where they believed Coke was hiding, was one of the bloodiest in recent memory and claimed 76 lives. It also prompted Jamaican officials to declare a state of emergency.

Coke released a statement to the press Wednesday after waiving extradition saying that he hoped his departure would allow Jamaica to begin to heal. "I take this decision for I now believe it to be in the best interest of my family, the community of western Kingston and in particular the people of Tivoli Gardens and above all Jamaica," the statement said. Many poor Jamaicans see Coke as a hero who, like many "dons," seemed to provide public services and a form of law and order that the government has not been able to achieve.

U.S. prosecutors say the loyalty shown by the Kingston slum dwellers was shared by many drug dealers up and down the East Coast. In court papers, the federal prosecutors in Manhattan say drug dealers in the U.S. regularly sent "cash and goods, including clothing and electronics, to Coke as 'tribute' payments, in recognition of his leadership and assistance." The tribute payments also included firearms, the papers add. Coke faces a maximum of life in prison in the United States if convicted.