Dutch police offer €2m reward for drug lord
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The gist
Dutch prosecutors offered a record €2 million reward for information leading to cocaine trafficker Jos Leijdekkers' arrest.
The bounty targets a man convicted in absentia and believed hiding in Sierra Leone.
Background
Jos Leijdekkers, a 35-year-old Dutch national also known as "Bolle Jos" (Chubby Jos) and, in Sierra Leone, as Omar Sherrif, is described by Dutch police as one of the key players in international cocaine trafficking and is listed by Europol (the EU's law enforcement agency) among its most-wanted fugitives. A Rotterdam court sentenced him in absentia to 24 years for smuggling more than seven tonnes of cocaine. Dutch authorities believe he has been living in Sierra Leone, and the Netherlands has demanded his extradition, which Sierra Leone has refused — prompting the EU to cut some aid to the country.
How it unfolded
- Jun 25, 2024A Rotterdam court sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in prison for smuggling more than seven tonnes of cocaine.
- Jan 2025Dutch police said Leijdekkers was believed to be living in Sierra Leone and going by the name Omar Sherrif.
- Jan 25, 2025Dutch authorities said he had been living in Sierra Leone for about six months and offered a $210,000 reward for tip-offs leading to his arrest, reportedly the highest ever offered for a Dutch fugitive.
- Nov 2, 2026Dutch prosecutors announced a record €2 million reward for information leading to his arrest, a ten-fold increase and the highest reward ever offered by Dutch authorities.
- Nov 2, 2026Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission said it was investigating three suspects accused of representing and facilitating Leijdekkers' activities in Ghana, arrested after a French customs seizure of a major cocaine shipment.
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Dutch justice minister David van Weel said the ten-fold increase was "necessary given the threat that Leijdekkers poses to national security, our democratic rule of law, and the international legal order."
- Official
- Dutch prosecutors said capturing Leijdekkers is their "highest priority" and that any information shared would be kept secret.
- Caution
- Leijdekkers' lawyers said he has denied all involvement in drug trafficking.
- Party
- Sierra Leone called Dutch pressure in the case "scandalous" and accused Van Weel of "neo-colonialism," while its leaders said withheld EU payments were delayed by "procedural issues" and unrelated to the extradition row.
Still unverified
Images apparently showing Leijdekkers in the company of President Julius Maada Bio and other officials have previously emerged; DutchNews reports Leijdekkers is believed to be in a relationship with the daughter of President Bio.