Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 25, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Jos Leijdekkers, a convicted cocaine smuggler, has been residing in Sierra Leone for six months, evading a 24-year sentence in the Netherlands.
THE HAGUE (Reuters) - One of Europe's most wanted fugitives, convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers, has been living in Sierra Leone for at least six months, a spokesperson for the Dutch prosecutors' office told Reuters on Friday.
The 33-year-old Leijdekkers, who was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison on June 25 by a Rotterdam court for smuggling more than 7 tonnes of cocaine, is one of the Netherlands most wanted men.
"It has the highest priority of police and prosecutors to get him to the Netherlands to serve his sentence. We are doing everything we can in that regard but we cannot comment any further because of the ongoing investigation," Wim de Bruin said.
(This story has been corrected to fix the spelling of Leijdekkers in the headline)
(Reporting by Stephanie Van Den Berg, writing by David Lewis, editing by Philippa Fletcher)
The article discusses Jos Leijdekkers, a European cocaine kingpin, residing in Sierra Leone while evading a prison sentence in the Netherlands.
Jos Leijdekkers is a convicted cocaine smuggler and one of Europe's most wanted fugitives.
Dutch authorities are prioritizing efforts to extradite Jos Leijdekkers to serve his 24-year sentence.
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