EU to also pressure Sierra Leone to extradite drug trafficker Bolle Jos
The European Union has thrown its support behind the Netherlands’ hunt for drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, commonly known as Bolle Jos. The EU will help put pressure on Sierra Leone to extradite the Dutch convict, the Telegraaf reports.
Jos Leijdekkers is the most wanted criminal in the Netherlands. He has been sentenced to a combined 81 years in prison in the Netherlands and Belgium for drug trafficking and related crimes, including coordinating assassinations and money laundering. He is also linked to a recent record drug seizure near the Canary Islands. The Spanish police intercepted a ship with over 30,000 kilograms of cocaine on board.
Leijkdekkers is in Sierra Leone, where he is said to be in a romantic relationship with the president’s daughter. The Netherlands has tried through diplomatic channels to get Sierra Leone to extradite him multiple times, all to no avail. The Dutch government, therefore, decided to ask the EU to help amp up the pressure by cutting development aid subsidies to the West African country.
The EU has allocated €325 million in subsidies to Sierra Leone for the period 2021 to 2027. The country also benefits from regional and international EU programs.
The EU is open to the idea of cutting those subsidies in order to tackle international drug trafficking, and has put Leijdekkers high on the agenda for the EU summit in Brussels this week, accoridng ot the newspaper.
