The Shower Posse originated in the
Tivoli Gardens neighbourhood of
Kingston circa 1981. The gang's primary activities involve the distribution of
crack cocaine and
marijuana, and the theft or illegal purchase and exportation of firearms, using violence to expand into new territories. According to
Metro-Dade Police Department Sergeant Kevin Dougherty, who investigated Coke: "It seemed like
Miami was their secondary base of operations". Blake established the Shower Posse's U.S. operations, with
cells in Miami,
New York City,
Kansas City,
Chicago,
Philadelphia,
Los Angeles and other cities, The Shower Posse became the first Jamaican gang to branch out of New York City into
South Jersey. 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 "political
enforcer", as well as to the CIA, going as far to state that "the United States made me what I am." In 2009, the
United States began to demand that
Christopher 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. 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 that
warrantless wiretapping had 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 of
civil unrest within Kingston, and especially Tivoli Gardens. 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. ==In popular culture==