Netherlands multiplies reward tenfold for fugitive tied to cocaine seizure traced to Ghana
Dutch prosecutors say the capture of Jos Leijdekkers is a top priority, as a Ghanaian court case over a €225 million shipment keeps his name in the headlines.
Less than two months after French customs found nearly four tonnes of cocaine in a container that left Ghana, the Netherlands has made its biggest-ever offer for a fugitive. Dutch prosecutors say the arrest of Jos Leijdekkers is the “highest priority” for the prosecution service and police, and the new reward is ten times the previous one. The €2 million (about $2.2 million) offer was announced on Monday, November 2.
Justice Minister David van Weel told parliament the increase was needed because of the threat Leijdekkers poses to national security, the rule of law and the international legal order. Prosecutors said any tip would be kept secret. The earlier reward, €200,000, was already the highest ever offered for a Dutch fugitive.
The Ghana connection
Ghana’s link to the case dates from September. After the seizure at Dunkirk, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) said on September 14 that it had arrested three suspects for allegedly representing and facilitating Leijdekkers’ activities in Ghana. Four Ghanaians were later charged with conspiring to export about four tonnes of cocaine to France. They were arraigned at the High Court in Accra on September 16 and remanded, with Leijdekkers named as a fifth accused who is at large.
French authorities say the roughly 3.9 tonnes, valued at €225 million, were hidden in a container of plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana. One caution: the French prosecutor’s statement did not publicly name Leijdekkers as the person behind the shipment.
The case has also drawn political comment at home. The Minority in Parliament demanded that the government account for Ghana’s growing role in the narcotics trade and said investigations seemed to focus on couriers and low-level suspects.
A fugitive with a long record
Leijdekkers, a Dutch national, has lived in Sierra Leone for several years. The Netherlands has demanded his extradition, but Sierra Leone has refused to cooperate, and the European Union has cut some aid to the country. Reuters has reported, citing three sources, that he enjoys high-level protection there. Police say he uses the name Omar Sherrif in Sierra Leone.
The 35-year-old is known as “Bolle Jos,” or Chubby Jos. A Dutch court sentenced him in absentia last year to 24 years for smuggling more than seven tonnes of cocaine, and Belgium sentenced him to 79 years. Dutch authorities estimate he has made tens of millions of euros from cocaine smuggling.
What remains unresolved
The reward puts a price on a man the Dutch say they can locate but cannot reach. Whether it produces a tip, or a change of heart in Freetown, will decide if the Ghana case ends with the man at its centre in court or only his alleged local associates.
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