Useful information
Prime News delivers timely, accurate news and insights on global events, politics, business, and technology
A spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) said Leijdekkers has been living in Sierra Leone for about six months.
They said he goes by the nickname Bolle Jos and until recently was suspected of living in Türkiye.
Sierra Leone authorities have not commented on the claims.
The Reuters news agency reported that Leijdekkers was spotted in Sierra Leone in January when the wife of Sierra Leone’s president posted a video on social media of a religious service she was attending with her husband.
According to Reuters, Leijdekkers can be seen in the video. The BBC has not been able to verify the images.
Dutch police have described Leijdekkers as “one of the key actors in international cocaine trafficking.”
A reward of $210,000 (£168,000) is being offered for tips leading to his arrest. This is reportedly the highest amount ever offered by a Dutch fugitive.
Leijdekkers is listed as one of the most wanted fugitives by Europol, the EU police agency.
West Africa is a major transit point for cocaine trafficking from Latin America.
On January 17, Sierra Leone recalled its ambassador to neighboring Guinea after seven suitcases containing suspected cocaine were found in an embassy vehicle.
Guinean authorities seized a vehicle belonging to the Sierra Leone embassy and detained its occupants on suspicion of possession of “substances suspected to be cocaine,” Sierra Leone Foreign Minister Alhaji Musa Timothy Kabba said.
“In light of this serious development, the government has urgently recalled Sierra Leone’s ambassador to Guinea, Ambassador Alimamy Bangura, to Freetown to provide a full report on the incident,” he added.
The retired envoy was not in the car and is not detained, the minister said.
“It has not been proven that the ambassador is involved in this trafficking,” he added.
