Netherlands offers €2 million reward for Leijdekkers' arrest — The Independent

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service has announced a €2 million reward for information that will help arrest 35-year-old Jos Leijdekkers, who was convicted of cocaine smuggling. As The Independent reports, this is the largest reward ever offered by Dutch authorities.

Leijdekkers, known in the Netherlands as Bolle Jos, has been in hiding for several years. The Dutch prosecution service said that in recent years he had been living in Sierra Leone, where, according to police, he also used the name Omar Sherif.

Sentences in the Netherlands and Belgium

Last year, a court in the Netherlands sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in prison for smuggling more than seven metric tonnes of cocaine. He is also involved in several ongoing police investigations in the country. In neighbouring Belgium, a court sentenced him to 79 years in prison.

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Dutch authorities believe that Leijdekkers made tens of millions of euros from cocaine smuggling. He is also suspected of money laundering and involvement in the use of extreme violence.

Reward increased tenfold

Previously, €200,000 was offered for information about Leijdekkers' whereabouts. Dutch authorities raised the amount to €2 million, hoping to obtain more information from African countries. The previous reward was also a record in the history of the Netherlands.

The Netherlands demanded Leijdekkers' extradition from Sierra Leone, but that country refused to cooperate in his transfer. After that, the European Union reduced part of the aid it had provided to Sierra Leone. According to The Independent, Leijdekkers was first spotted in Freetown in October 2022, when he arrived in the capital in a convoy of six cars.