Jamaican drug thugs used IEDs and cross dressing gunmen to resist arrest

Sunday Telegraph:

Stung by allegations of summary executions and other abuses, the Jamaican authorities have published pictures of devices found in the Tivoli Gardens area of the city. Explosives jacketed with metal fragments were found attached to barricades and on approach routes into the waterfront slum district, some of them operated by control wires. They said the slum was festooned with explosive booby traps intended for soldiers and police sent in to arrest him.

Gunmen were also said to have disguised themselves as women.

"They were very well organized, they knew what they were doing," said Colonel Rocky Meade of the Jamaican Defence Force. "We encountered very sophisticated defensive layouts." Heavy fighting lasting some 12 hours followed the start of the operation to seize Coke, who is accused by the American authorities of masterminding a criminal empire stretching from Kingston to the streets of New York.

Washington has been demanding Coke's extradition on drugs and firearms trafficking offences for months, but the Labour government of prime minister Bruce Golding acted only on Monday.

The result was 73 civilian deaths in addition to one soldier and two policemen killed, as well as scores of injuries and some 500 arrests.

...

Authorities think Coke is still in the area. He and his forces have to be weakened by the battle, but at this point it is not clear how much weaker he is and how much longer he can remain in hiding. While he is in hiding it will be harder for him to operate his drug network without risking detection.