Dutch drug trafficker searched “is in Sierra Leone”

Dutch authorities say that one of the most wanted fugitives in Europe has been living in Sierra Leone for about six months.

Jos Leijdekkers, 33, was sentenced in absence to 24 years in prison on June 25 last year by a Rotterdam court for smuggling of more than seven tons of cocaine.

Bruin’s Dutch prosecutor said that the fugitive return to Holland was “the highest priority.”

“We are doing everything we can in that regard, but we cannot make more comments due to ongoing research,” he said.

A Dutch Public Ministry spokesman (OM) said that Leijdekkers has lived in Sierra Leone for about six months.

They said that he is known with the nickname of Bolle Jos and that until recently he was suspected that he lived in Türkiye.

The Sierra Leone authorities have not commented on the statements.

The Reuters news agency reported that Leijdekkers was seen in Sierra Leone in January when the wife of the president of Sierra Leone published a video on the social networks of a religious service that he attended with her husband.

According to Reuters, in the video you can see Leijdekkers. The BBC has not been able to verify the images.

The Dutch police have described Leijdekkers as “one of the key actors in international cocaine traffic.”

A reward of $ 210,000 (168,000 pounds sterling) is offered for clues that lead to their arrest. As reported, it is the highest amount ever offered by a Dutch fugitive.

Leijdekkers appears as one of the most wanted fugitives by Europol, the EU police agency.

Western Africa is an important transit point for cocaine traffic from Latin America.

January 17, Sierra Leone withdrew his ambassador to neighbor Guinea After seven suitcases containing alleged cocaine were found in an embassy vehicle.

The Guinean authorities confiscated a vehicle belonging to the Sierra Leone Embassy and arrested their occupants under suspicion of possession of “suspected substances of being cocaine,” said Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba.

“In the light of this serious event, the Government has urgently called the Sierra Leone Ambassador to Guinea, Mr. Alimamy Bangura, Freetown to provide a full report of the incident,” he added.

The retired envoy was not in the car and is not stopped, said the minister.

“It has not been shown that the ambassador is involved in this traffic,” he added.