Netherlands Offers a Record €2 Million Reward for Fugitive Cocaine Kingpin Jos Leijdekkers
The Dutch Public Prosecution Service announced on November 2 that it is raising the reward for fugitive cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers tenfold, from €200,000 to €2 million (about $2.2 million), the highest bounty the Netherlands has ever offered for a single fugitive. Prosecutors said his arrest is 'the highest priority' for the prosecution service and the police, that the reward can be paid within several days of his arrest, and that tips will be handled in strict confidence by a specialist police team.
Leijdekkers, 35, known in the Netherlands as 'Bolle Jos', is considered a key player in the international cocaine trade. On June 25, 2024, the Rotterdam district court sentenced him in absentia to 24 years in prison for six drug transports totalling nearly 7,000 kilograms of cocaine, an armed robbery in Finland and commissioning a murder; he has also been sentenced to 79 years in Belgium. Dutch authorities estimate he earned at least tens of millions of euros from cocaine smuggling.
Dutch police have tracked Leijdekkers to Sierra Leone, where he also goes by the name Omar Sheriff. The Netherlands has demanded his extradition, but Sierra Leone has refused to cooperate, prompting the European Union to cut some aid to the West African country. Prosecutors said information about his travel plans could prove decisive, for example if he temporarily leaves Sierra Leone and an opportunity to arrest him arises.
Source: Dutch Public Prosecution Service
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：荷兰鹿特丹地方法院大楼，莱伊德克斯2024年在此被缺席判刑（资料图）。照片 CC BY-SA 2.0，作者 Steven Lek，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The Rotterdam district court building, where Leijdekkers was sentenced in absentia in 2024 (file photo). CC BY-SA 2.0, by Steven Lek, via Wikimedia Commons.
