Dutch cocaine trafficker added to Europol’s most wanted list
Europol has added a Dutch man to the most wanted list in Europe. Brian Y., a 57-year-old who was sentenced to two years in prison in 2023 for trafficking cocaine from Suriname via Schiphol in 2017 is said to possibly be armed and dangerous by the European Union’s law enforcement agency.
In 2023, the Netherlands’ highest court, the Supreme Court, upheld his conviction. Legally, Y. was convicted of “co-perpetrating (extended) cocaine importation” under the Dutch Opium Act.
Y. was a part of 18 names that have been added to the list, raising the number of fugitives to 50. Two other Dutch men are on the list. Well-known drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos, and Wim B., who was sentenced to 29 years in prison almost two years ago for murdering his girlfriend in 2008, is wanted by Belgian authorities.
In 2024, Bolle Jos was sentenced in absentia to 24 years behind bars for his role in smuggling roughly 7,000 kilos of cocaine and participating in murder-for-hire plots. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) is demanding the return of around 221 million euros in criminal proceeds from him as part of an asset confiscation.
Reports suggest he operated “within the highest circles” of Sierra Leone. In March 2025, the country’s immigration chief was fired shortly after footage surfaced showing him alongside Bolle Jos, raising suspicions of potential protection or corruption.
B. was found guilty of shooting his girlfriend at the time, Samira Bakker, in their villa. B. was also found heavily wounded; he claimed that he and his girlfriend were victims of a violent home invasion. The investigation showed that B. had staged this by wounding himself and then setting the home on fire.
B. had been missing for years by the time of the trial, leaving the defendant’s bench empty. He was consequently sentenced in absentia. Authorities believe he may be abroad. Previously, he has traveled to Thailand, Cambodia, and Dubai, and connections in Curaçao have also been noted.
Since the list publications started in 2016, a total of 172 fugitives have been arrested. 54 of these came as a direct result of a tip that had come in after the list was published.
