A Dutch court docket on Monday confiscated $112 million in ill-gotten features from certainly one of Europe’s most infamous drug lords, regarded as hiding out in Sierra Leone.
The Rotterdam court docket seized the unlawful property amassed by Jos Leijdekkers, often known as “Bolle Jos” or “Chubby Jos,” from cocaine trafficking and gold purchases — however not noted unproven claims about luxurious items.
“With today’s ruling, the court has determined how much money L. (Leijdekkers) earned through criminal activities,” the court docket judgment mentioned. “The total is nearly 127 million euros, of which he must pay more than 96 million euros to the State.”
Leijdekkers didn’t attend the listening to and was not represented by a lawyer. The court docket confirmed that the case was heard in absentia.
Prosecutors had initially sought a file $250 million in prison asset seizures. However the court docket dominated that that they had used too broad a authorized foundation and decreased the quantity, making use of stricter standards and excluding a number of unproven claims.
Jos Leijdekkers
Europol
Prosecutors mentioned final month that Leijdekkers had made 114 million euros from 14 cocaine shipments over lower than a 12 months.
In response to intercepted communications, the 34-year-old additionally spent 47 million euros on 975 kilograms of gold over lower than six months.
A Rotterdam court docket final June sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in jail for ordering a homicide and organising cocaine shipments.
He’s on Europol’s most-wanted record, with the European police physique providing over $225,000 for info resulting in his arrest.
In January, Dutch authorities mentioned they had been “absolutely certain” he was hiding out in Sierra Leone. The BBC reported that Dutch prosecutor Wim de Bruin mentioned the fugitive’s return to the Netherlands was of “the highest priority.”
Photographs apparently exhibiting Leijdekkers within the firm of officers as excessive as President Julius Maada Bio have sparked hypothesis that the cocaine baron has cosied as much as Sierra Leone’s political class — together with the president’s daughter.
Suspicions that he was in Sierra Leone arose after the nation’s first woman, Fatima Bio, posted photos and a video on social media that confirmed a person strongly resembling Leijdekkers at a non secular service, additionally attended by President Bio.
Convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers attends a church service in Tihun, Sierra Leone, January 1, 2025, on this display screen seize obtained from a social media video.
First Woman Fatima Maada Bio through Fb/through REUTERS
Exiled Sierra Leone opposition determine Mohamed Mansaray has accused Bio and his authorities of “offering refuge” to the drug lord.
In response to Mansaray, Leijdekkers has coupled up with the president’s daughter, Agnes Bio, who’s seen accompanying the drug lord within the pictures.
Leijdekkers can be believed to be concerned within the disappearance and dying of Naima Jillal, a girl who went lacking in 2019 after she received right into a automotive in Amsterdam, in keeping with Europol. Intercepted messages allegedly confirmed that Leijdekkers “played an important role in Jillal’s disappearance,” the company mentioned.
Extra from CBS Information
