{"id":8313,"date":"2025-06-03T12:18:51","date_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/03\/dutch-prosecutors-seek-record-250-million-from-fugitive-drug-lord-believed-to-be-hiding-over-4000-miles-away\/"},"modified":"2025-06-03T12:18:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T12:18:52","slug":"dutch-prosecutors-seek-record-250-million-from-fugitive-drug-lord-believed-to-be-hiding-over-4000-miles-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationalgunowner.org\/index.php\/2025\/06\/03\/dutch-prosecutors-seek-record-250-million-from-fugitive-drug-lord-believed-to-be-hiding-over-4000-miles-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Dutch prosecutors seek record $250 million from fugitive drug lord believed to be hiding over 4,000 miles away"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dutch prosecutors said Monday they were seeking to confiscate a record $253 million from one of Europe’s most notorious drug lords, thought to be hiding in Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n

The illegal assets amassed by Jos Leijdekkers<\/a><\/span>, also known as “Bolle Jos” or “Chubby Jos,” were proceeds from cocaine trafficking, as well as purchases of gold and luxury items, the public prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Leijdekkers is thought to have made 114 million euros from 14 cocaine shipments over less than a year.<\/p>\n

According to intercepted communications, the 33-year-old also spent 47 million euros on 975 kilograms of gold over less than six months.<\/p>\n

The kingpin additionally bought real estate including a hotel in Turkey and apartments in Dubai, the prosecutors alleged.<\/p>\n

Luxury goods including two Bentley cars, designer bags, jewellery and watches, were also added to the total of illicit assets, bringing the total to $253 million.<\/p>\n

“This is… only a first step towards tracing Leijdekkers’ assets,” the prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

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Convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers attends a church service in Tihun, Sierra Leone, January 1, 2025, in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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First Lady Fatima Maada Bio via Facebook\/via REUTERS<\/p>\n

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A Rotterdam court last June sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in prison for ordering a murder and organizing cocaine shipments.<\/p>\n

He is on Europol’s most-wanted list<\/a>, with the European police body offering over $225,000 for information leading to his arrest.<\/p>\n

“Leijdekkers is considered to be one of the key players in international cocaine trafficking,” according to Europol.<\/p>\n

In January, Dutch authorities said they were “absolutely certain” he was hiding out in Sierra Leone. The\u00a0BBC reported<\/a>\u00a0that Dutch prosecutor Wim de Bruin said the fugitive’s return to the Netherlands was of “the highest priority.”<\/p>\n

Images apparently showing Leijdekkers in the company of officials as high as President Julius Maada Bio have sparked speculation the cocaine lord has cozied up to Sierra Leone’s political class — including the president’s daughter.<\/p>\n

Suspicions he was in Sierra Leone arose after the country’s First Lady Fatima Bio posted pictures and a video on social media that showed a man strongly resembling Leijdekkers at a religious service<\/a><\/span>, also attended by President Bio.<\/p>\n

Exiled Sierra Leone opposition figure Mohamed Mansaray has accused Bio and his government of “offering refuge” to the drug lord.<\/p>\n

According to Mansaray, Leijdekkers has coupled up with the president’s daughter Agnes Bio, who is seen accompanying the drug lord in the images.<\/p>\n

Leijdekkers is also believed to be involved in the disappearance and death of Naima Jillal, a woman who went missing in 2019 after she got into a car in Amsterdam,\u00a0according to Europol<\/a>. Intercepted messages allegedly showed that Leijdekkers “played an important role in Jillal’s disappearance,” the agency said.<\/p>\n

“For a long time, there was no trace of Naima Jillal, until photos of a woman believed to be her were found on a phone seized in the Marengo investigation,” Europol said. “The photos show that she was most likely tortured and is probably no longer alive.”<\/p>\n

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