Dutchman Jos Leijdekkers is at the top of the top 25 most wanted drug criminals in Belgium. The Gazet van Antwerpen compiled a list in which ‘Bolle Jos’ is number 1.
Image: a drawing commissioned by the police of the wanted Jos Leijdekkers
Sought
32-year-old Jos Leijdekkers is currently one of the most wanted and most notorious drug criminals in Europe. This is what the Gazet van Antwerpen wrote on Saturday, in a list of the 25 ‘most wanted’ drug criminals. ‘His real name was unknown in the criminal environment for a long time, but when names like “Holly”, “Joske Breda”, “Bolle Jos” or “El Presidente” were mentioned, a shudder went through the drug world.’
Offered
The Antwerp newspaper reports that the Dutch government has offered 400,000 euros for information that could lead to the arrest of Leijdekkers. ‘The Netherlands not only wants to prosecute him for large-scale cocaine smuggling and money laundering, our northern neighbors also link him to a number of high-profile murders, such as that of ‘aunt’ Naima Jillal. That Moroccan from the Netherlands was said to have been kidnapped and murdered, after which her body was cut into pieces.’
Abused
Leijdekkers is a suspect in numerous major cocaine smuggling cases, usually via the port of Antwerp. De Gazet writes that the Belgian federal public prosecutor’s office is prosecuting him in the Costa file. ‘The Antwerp public prosecutor’s office is prosecuting him in several drug cases, including the famous Zwemmer case, in which a fire guard was seriously assaulted.’
Conflict
The fight against organized drug trafficking, and Operation Sky ECC in particular, has triggered an exodus of criminals, says the Antwerp newspaper. ‘Almost the entire top and middle management of the criminal environment fled to safer places such as Dubai, Istanbul or Tangier, nowadays the latest hot spot for the drug mafia.’
