Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers jailed 13 years for masterminding attempt to retrieve cocaine in customs warehouse

The notorious Dutch fugitive, Jos Leijdekkers, wanted for drug trafficking and murder has been sentenced in absentia again this week in Belgium for masterminding an attempt to retrieve 10 tonnes of seized cocaine being held in a customs warehouse in Kalmthout, a municipality in the Belgian province of Antwerp.

The attempt was foiled by Belgian law enforcement, arresting seven individuals who are facing 10-years in jail. Eleven others received various sentences from one to nine years, and two were acquitted.

The 33-year-old Leijdekkers, wanted for drug smuggling in his home country, The Netherlands, was early in the year seen in the company of Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio and his daughter in videos published online and examined by journalists. While some sources say he has been hiding in Sierra Leone for at least two years, Dutch officials say they believe he has been living in that country for at least six months. He has also been described as Europe’s most wanted man.

In June last year, he was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison by a Rotterdam court for the offence of smuggling seven tonnes of cocaine, an armed robbery in Finland and ordering murder. In September last year, a Belgian court also sentenced him to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking offences and assault. Dutch police also suspect his involvement in the disappearance and suspected torture and murder of Naima Jilal, a woman who disappeared in Amsterdam in 2019.

This latest sentencing adds to the multiple jail terms already hanging over his head.

Leijdekkers was seen in video footage shared on social media including one by the wife of Bio in the company of the president and his family at a New Year’s Eve church service. In another undated video, also shared widely on social media and seen by Ghana Business News, the wanted man is shown harvesting rice alongside the Sierra Leonean president on his farm in Tihun, a rural town in Sogbini Chiefdom, Bonthe District in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone authorities initially denied the presence of the fugitive in the country. The Inspector General of Police in a press conference told journalists that the individual identified in the video is rather known to them as Umar Sheriff, however, they mounted searches at all the places they had hoped to find him, including initiating a manhunt, but they haven’t been able to find the individual.

The Dutch authorities subsequently issued an extradition request to the Sierra Leone authorities. There is no extradition treated between the two countries, however.

Leijdekkers is also widely reported to be in a romantic relationship with Agnes Bio, daughter of the Sierra Leone president.

By Emmanuel K Dogbevi

The post Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers jailed 13 years for masterminding attempt to retrieve cocaine in customs warehouse appeared first on Ghana Business News.

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