Record bounty offered for fugitive drug kingpin "Chubby Jos"

Key points

• Dutch authorities are offering 2 million euros for information leading to Jos Leijdekkers' arrest.
• Leijdekkers was sentenced in absentia in Rotterdam in 2024 to 24 years in prison.
• Dutch police have tracked the 35-year-old fugitive to Sierra Leone.

Dutch authorities are offering a record reward of 2 million euros ($2.2 million) for information leading to the arrest of Jos Leijdekkers, described as one of Europe's most-wanted drug traffickers. Prosecutors said his arrest is "the highest priority for the Public Prosecution Service and the police," a reward ten times larger than the previous one.

A Rotterdam court sentenced Leijdekkers, known as "Bolle Jos" ("Chubby Jos"), in absentia in 2024 to 24 years in prison over cocaine shipments totaling nearly 7,000 kilos, an armed robbery and ordering a "liquidation." He has also been sentenced to 79 years in prison in Belgium. Dutch police have tracked the 35-year-old to Sierra Leone.

Why the reward was raised

Justice Minister David van Weel said the increase was "necessary given the threat that Leijdekkers poses to national security, our democratic rule of law, and the international legal order." In a letter to parliament, he said the Netherlands, working with the international community, is doing everything in its power to secure the arrest. Dutch authorities said any information shared with prosecutors will be kept secret.

necessary given the threat that Leijdekkers poses to national security, our democratic rule of law, and the international legal order

— Justice Minister David van Weel

Links to Sierra Leone

In January 2025, Dutch authorities said they were "absolutely certain" Leijdekkers was hiding in Sierra Leone. The BBC reported that Dutch prosecutor Wim de Bruin said the fugitive's return to the Netherlands was of "the highest priority." Images apparently showing him with officials including President Julius Maada Bio have prompted speculation that he has close ties to the country's political class, including the president's daughter.

Suspicions arose after first lady Fatima Bio posted pictures and a video on social media showing a man strongly resembling Leijdekkers at a religious service also attended by President Bio. Europol also believes Leijdekkers was involved in the 2019 disappearance of Naima Jillal, saying intercepted messages allegedly showed he "played an important role in Jillal's disappearance" and that photos found on a seized phone suggest she was most likely tortured and is probably no longer alive.