EU halts aid funds to Sierra Leone over Bolle Jos extradition

The European Commission has stopped payments to Sierra Leone with immediate effect because the country will not extradite fugitive drugs baron Jos Leijdekkers, known as Bolle Jos, justice minister David van Weel has confirmed.

Van Weel told De Telegraaf: “I am very happy with this step. It is galling that EU money goes to a country that does not want to cooperate with the extradition of someone like Bolle Jos.”

Jos reportedly has a child with the daughter of Sierra Leone’s president, Julius Maada Bio, and maintains close ties with the government there. Drugs shipments passing through the West African coast are an increasing concern, for which Van Weel wants to establish a permanent secretariat.

Sierra Leone was expected to receive €18 million euros in budget support from Europe this year, most of it intended to bolster education, food programs and infrastructure projects. The Netherlands is also hoping to stop a planned payment of €22.5 million to the country next year.

Van Weel travelled to West Africa recently to garner support from surrounding nations like Ghana and Liberia.

Van Weel is in Luxembourg on Thursday for a meeting with EU justice ministers, where tougher sanctions on criminals hiding outside Europe, such as entry bans and asset freezes, will be discussed.

Pressure to tackle the cocaine trade has grown since an armed attack on a farm in Overasselt, Gelderland, last month, in which a security guard was killed. The attack is thought to be linked to the drugs trade.