A dozen alleged members of the Shower Posse, which has its roots in the western Kingston community of Tivoli Gardens were arrested by police in Ontario, Canada yesterday.

The Toronto Globe & Mail reported today that 78 people were arrested and almost 20 guns were seized in an operation involving more than 1,000 police officers.

"Big-fish suspects and small ones were caught in the mix, but at the centre, however, are dozens of alleged Toronto gangsters. At their centre, about a dozen alleged members of the shadowy Shower Posse," wrote reporter Colin Freeze.

Freeze's report compared the significance of the Shower Posse to New York's infamous Gambino crime family. Posse members are accused of brokering the sale of drugs from the Caribbean to warring Canadian street gangs.

A seizure of more than 70 kilogrammes of cocaine in the Dominican Republic led investigators to the Shower Posse.

The United States alleges that the leader of the Shower Posse is Tivoli strongman Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, who is currently fighting extradition to that country on drugs and gun charges.

Tivoli is a Jamaica Labour Party garrison within the West Kingston constituency of Prime Minister Bruce Golding. The Shower Posse take their name from a famous speech given by then member of parliament and JLP leader Edward Seaga