Kingston, Jamaica (CNN) -- Alleged drug kingpin Christopher "Dudus" Coke departed Jamaica Thursday for the United States hours after waiving his right to an extradition hearing, officials said Thursday.
He was expected to arrive in the custody of Drug Enforcement Administration agents at White Plains-Westchester County Airport outside New York City at 7 p.m., two government officials told CNN.
A failed attempt to arrest Coke last month in Jamaica sparked four days of gun battles between security forces and his supporters in Kingston that left 76 people dead.
Coke, 41, said he had instructed his attorneys earlier in the day to waive his right to a hearing in Jamaican courts and allow him to "proceed directly" to the United States.
"I have taken this decision of my own free will and have done so even though I am of the belief that my case would have been successfully argued in the courts of Jamaica," he said in a statement issued Thursday.
Coke was arrested on Tuesday when Jamaican police recognized him at a checkpoint.
He was charged last year in U.S. federal court with conspiracy to distribute marijuana and cocaine and conspiracy to illegally traffic in firearms. The U.S. attorney's office in New York accused him of leading an international criminal syndicate known as the "Shower Posse".
A failed attempt to arrest Coke last month sparked four days of gun battles between security forces and his supporters in Kingston that left 76 people dead.
