Record bounty offered for fugitive drug kingpin "Chubby Jos"
Summary
Dutch authorities have increased the reward for information leading to the arrest of Jos Leijdekkers to 2 million euros, a record amount. They say the fugitive is believed to be in Sierra Leone, while he has been convicted in absentia in the Netherlands and Belgium for drug-related crimes and other offenses.Key Facts
- The Dutch Public Prosecution Service and police raised the reward tenfold to 2 million euros ($2.2 million).
- Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos,” is 35 and is considered a major figure in the international cocaine trade.
- A Rotterdam court sentenced him in absentia in 2024 to 24 years in prison for cocaine shipments totaling nearly 7,000 kilograms, an armed robbery, and ordering a killing.
- He has also received a 79-year prison sentence in Belgium.
- Dutch police believe Leijdekkers is hiding in Sierra Leone, where authorities said in January 2025 they were certain he was located.
- Images shared on social media appeared to show a man resembling Leijdekkers at a religious service attended by Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio.
- Europol said intercepted messages allegedly linked Leijdekkers to the disappearance of Naima Jillal, who went missing in Amsterdam in 2019.
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