Prime Minister Bruce Golding said last week
Golding addressed parliament before he survived a no-confidence motion by the opposition People's National Party. On a 30-28 vote, lawmakers rejected censuring him over his handling of the U.S. extradition request for Coke.
While Tivoli Gardens ranks among the most notorious areas in Jamaica, violent gangs are also deeply entrenched in Spanish Town, just west of Kingston, and the northwestern coastal parish of St. James, which includes the resort city of Montego Bay.
Fighting between the gangs for control of drug trafficking and extortion rackets was blamed for the vast majority of the 1,660 homicides last year on the island of 2.8 million people.
Many of the gangs have roots in political violence during the 1970s, when factions armed criminals to help intimidate election opponents, and affiliations with the two major parties have continued to provide a measure of protection.
