Thousands of police and soldiers stormed the Jamaican ghettos where reggae was born in search of a reputed drug kingpin wanted by the United States, intensifying a third day of street battles that have killed at least 30 people.

THOUSANDS of heavily armed police and soldiers continued an assault into the capital’s most violent downtown slums yesterday, scouring buildings for weapons and battling die-hard defenders of a powerful Jamaican gang leader sought by the US.

Thousands of heavily armed police and soldiers barged past barricades into Jamaica's most violent slums today, clashing with die-hard defenders of a gang leader sought by the US, leaving at least 30 people dead.