The Shower Posse is a Jamaican gang, started by

Lester Lloyd Coke Lester Lloyd Coke, commonly known as Jim Brown, was a Jamaican drug lord and the founder of the Shower Posse, a gang based out of the Tivoli Gardens garrison community in West Kingston. Coke was identified by the Netflix documentary ''ReMastered ...

, which is involved with

drug A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhal ...

and

arms smuggling Arms trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arm ...

. Its home is in

Tivoli Gardens Tivoli Gardens, also known simply as Tivoli, is an amusement park and pleasure garden in Copenhagen, Denmark. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the third-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Kla ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispan ...

, but it primarily operates in the Canadian province of

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

and the US states of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

and

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

. The gang has a strong international presence among expatriate Jamaican communities in North America. In the United States, a branch was founded by

Vivian Blake Vivian Blake (11 May 1956 – 21 March 2010) was a Jamaican drug kingpin who founded and operated the American operations of the Jamaican Shower Posse. Background Blake was born to a poor family in West Kingston, but was granted a scholar ...

and it has a prominent role in the New York City drug trade. The gang also has a large presence in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Name

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. Another view is that it is a reference to the gang showering opponents with bullets."No remedy for 'Posse'; International drug cartel calling the shots in Toronto's northwest end." Drew Halfnight. ''National Post''. 8 May 2010. p. A14. A third theory is that the gang got its name from the

Jamaica Labour Party The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is one of the two major political parties in Jamaica, the other being the People's National Party (PNP). While its name might suggest that it is a social democratic party (as is the case for "Labour" parties in sev ...

(JLP) election slogan 'Shower', which was a response to the PNP's 'Power' that was coined from Manley's 'Power for the people' slogan in the 1970s.

History

The

-aligned Shower Posse has been provided with arms, training, and transport to the United States by the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

(CIA). On 4 August 1985, a gun battle erupted at a picnic attended by approximately 2,000 Jamaicans in

Oakland, New Jersey Oakland is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 12,754,Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...

and the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...

fought with the

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

-based Dog Posse and Tel Aviv Posse. Three people were killed, nine were wounded, and police retrieved thirty-three handguns from the scene. The Shower Posse was involved in a drug war with the Junior Black Mafia in

Southwest Philadelphia Southwest Philadelphia (formerly Kingsessing Township) is a section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The section can be described as extending from the western side of the Schuylkill River to the city line, with the SEPTA. The nort ...

during the 1980s and early 1990s. 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 The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

began to demand that

Christopher Coke Christopher Michael Coke, also known as Dudus (born 13 March 1969), is a convicted Jamaican drug lord and the leader of the Shower Posse, a violent drug gang started by his father Lester Coke in Jamaica, which exported "large quantities" of ma ...

, 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 Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty ...

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

The 2014 novel '' A Brief History of Seven Killings'' by Marlon James features a gang called Storm Posse, who share many features with Shower Posse, based in a fictionalised version of Tivoli Gardens named "Copenhagen City".

and the Shower Posse were the subject of an episode of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

documentary series, '' Drug Lords'', released in 2018.

References

{{Authority control Politics of Jamaica Drugs in Jamaica Kingston, Jamaica Transnational organized crime Organized crime groups in Canada Gangs in Toronto Organized crime groups in Jamaica Organized crime groups in the United States Gangs in Florida Gangs in New Jersey Gangs in New York City Gangs in Philadelphia 1980s establishments in Jamaica