Prosecutors raise reward for arrest of “Bolle Jos” to €2m

Dutch prosecutors have raised the reward for the capture of the convicted drugs baron Jos Leijdekkers, nicknamed “Bolle Jos” or “Chubby Jos”, to €2 million.

The tenfold increase is an attempt to raise the pressure on the 35-year-old, who is believed to be hiding out in Sierra Leone, where Dutch authorities say he is in a relationship with the daughter of president Julius Maada Bio.

Leijdekkers is the most wanted fugitive on Europol’s list of top criminals after Dutch and Belgian courts sentenced him to a total of 103 years in prison in absentia. The reward is the largest of its kind ever offered by the Netherlands.

Two years ago was found guilty in Rotterdam of transporting nearly seven tonnes of cocaine in six shipments, an armed robbery in Finland and ordering an assassination. He has denied all involvement in drug trafficking through his lawyers.

The prosecution service said information leading to his arrest would be handled in strict confidence and not shared with other police forces or the authorities in the west African country.

Dutch justice minister David van Weel said last month that the European Union had withheld €18 million in budget aid to Sierra Leone because of its continued refusal to hand over Leijdekkers.

But the country’s leaders said the payments had been delayed because of “procedural issues” and had nothing to do with the row over Leijdekkers’ extradition.

Earlier Sierra Leone said the Dutch pressure in the case was “scandalous” and accused Van Weel of engaging in “neo-colonialism”.

Chief minister David Moinina Sengeh said: “Hand on heart, our security intelligence does not know where Leijdekkers is. If they know, show the pictures.”