The Dutch Cabinet is preparing to request a suspension of European Union development aid to Sierra Leone following repeated failures to secure the extradition of convicted drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers.
The Netherlands intends to enlist other EU partners to increase diplomatic pressure on Freetown by linking cooperation to case progress, according to Minister of Justice Van Weel on the television show Buitenhof. “It is, of course, absurd that we facilitate or support a country that simultaneously provides a haven to one of the most notorious drug criminals known to us globally,” Van Weel stated, explaining why the Netherlands is considering measures other than bilateral diplomacy.
According to the European Commission, the EU has committed approximately €352 million in grants to Sierra Leone for the years 2021-2027, in addition to numerous regional and international programs that benefit the West African country. Van Weel has made arresting and transferring Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos” in press reports, a top priority. Leijdekkers has been convicted in both the Netherlands and Belgium and faces a total sentence of 80 years in prison.
The minister described Leijdekkers as an exceptionally lucrative figure in the illegal drug trade, claiming that his estimated monthly income is in the hundreds of millions of euros, an amount that dwarfs Sierra Leone’s GDP and, in the minister’s opinion, has the potential to profoundly corrupt government institutions. According to Van Weel, repeated diplomatic requests for cooperation on extradition have yielded little. He described how, in early May, he raised the issue directly with his Sierra Leonean counterpart, only to receive the same response he had heard for months: authorities are “working hard on it,” procedures are underway, and the police report is nearly complete.
Frustrated by the lack of concrete progress and sceptical that political engagement alone will change things, Van Weel said the government is “casting a wider net” by attempting to make continued EU development assistance contingent on cooperation.
The Dutch minister also linked his campaign to a recent record drug seizure off the Canary Islands in early May, when authorities recovered 30,000 to 45,000 kilograms of narcotics.
Van Weel stated that the size of the shipment makes it unlikely that the operation was carried out without assistance at multiple levels within Sierra Leone, and he identified Freetown as the port of origin for the consignment.
Complications in the case have been widely reported. According to multiple sources, Leijdekkers is in a relationship with the daughter of Sierra Leone’s President Maada Bio, which could complicate or delay extradition efforts. Furthermore, the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf recently reported that the Netherlands had planned an operation involving police special forces and the Navy to apprehend Leijdekkers at sea off the West African coast, but the mission was cancelled at the last moment. During his appearance at Buitenhof, Van Weel declined to comment on the reported operation.
With the Netherlands now seeking the support of other EU member states, diplomatic exchanges between Brussels, The Hague, and Freetown are likely to intensify in the coming weeks as the Dutch government attempts to link development funds to tangible progress on a case that it claims is emblematic of larger threats posed by organised drug trafficking.
