Police arrested Coke, 42, on the outskirts of Kingston on Tuesday, peacefully ending a manhunt for the fugitive that began with deadly raids in the Jamaican capital last month.

He waived his right to an extradition trial on Thursday during a brief court appearance under tight security near the military and police headquarters where he has been held since his arrest.

In a two-page typewritten statement issued through his lawyer, Tom Tavares Finson, Coke said he was leaving with a heavy heart but convinced he would be vindicated and eventually allowed to return to his Caribbean homeland as a free man.

"Pray for me and God bless Jamaica," Coke said.

Coke is wanted on drug and gun-running charges in New York and US prosecutors have described him as the current leader of the "Shower Posse" that murdered hundreds of people during the cocaine wars of the 1980s.

Seventy-six people were killed in four days of gun battles last month when police and soldiers stormed the Tivoli Gardens slum in west Kingston in an attempt to take Coke into custody.

He commanded a private militia and his supporters burned down two police stations and shot up four others in an attempt to prevent Coke's extradition before last month's deadly raids.