Vivian Blake (11 May 1956 – 21 March 2010) was a Jamaican

drug kingpin A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...

who founded and operated the American operations of the Jamaican

Shower Posse The Shower Posse is a Jamaican gang, started by Lester Lloyd Coke, which is involved with drug and arms smuggling. Its home is in Tivoli Gardens in Jamaica, but it primarily operates in the Canadian province of Ontario and the US states of New ...

Background

Blake was born to a poor family in West Kingston, but was granted a scholarship to a private high school, St. George's College. He moved to New York City in 1973, where he started distributing marijuana and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

, eventually expanding his network nationwide. According to ''New York Daily News'' columnist Patrice O'Shaughnessy, in a column printed on 30 March 2010, Blake is credited with the dubious distinction of being "one of the creators of crack." During the 1980s, also according to O'Shaughnessy, Blake was responsible for flooding Bronx localities such as

Soundview Soundview is a neighborhood on the Clason Point peninsula, on the southern section of the borough of the Bronx in New York City. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are the Cross-Bronx Expressway to the north, White Plai ...

, Crotona Park and the

Bronx River The Bronx River (), approximately long, flows through southeast New York in the United States and drains an area of . It is named after colonial settler Jonas Bronck. Besides the Hutchinson River, the Bronx River is the only fresh water river in ...

with tons of cocaine and crack cocaine. Blake and other gang members were charged in a multiple killing in Miami, but he escaped apprehension by travelling to Jamaica. After later charges were added, he was extradited to the United States in 1999. In 2000, he pleaded guilty to charges including racketeering and conspiracy, and admitted to his role in the gang. He was sentenced to 28 years, but was released on parole after eight. After being released from prison, Blake returned to Jamaica. Blake died on 21 March 2010 at the age of 53 after being admitted to University Hospital of the West Indies for a heart attack. At the time of his death, he was suffering from kidney disease and undergoing dialysis.

References

1956 births 2010 deaths 20th-century criminals Jamaican drug traffickers Jamaican emigrants to the United States Jamaican people imprisoned abroad People extradited from Jamaica People extradited to the United States People from Kingston, Jamaica Shower Posse Yardies {{crime-bio-stub

Background

See also

References