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.
