The notorious drug baron Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos” has been sentenced to 13 years in prison after being found guild of being the man behind a botched attempt to steal 10 tonnes of cocaine. Whether he will ever serve his sentence is far from certain though as he has been on the run for years and recent video footages showed him in Sierra Leone.
Fugitive drug baron given 13 years for masterminding botched armed raid on customs warehouse
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When summing up, the judge at the Antwerp Criminal Court on Tuesday morning was very clear. He said that Jos Leijdekkers’ burring of norms had made “people's physical integrity subservient to power, status and money.” The verdict reads raid that had been masterminded by Bolle Jos was “meticulously planned”.
In October 2023, customs discovered a cargo of 10 tonnes of cocaine inside a container of soybean meal. To remove the drugs from the cargo, the container was taken to a warehouse in Kalmthout (Antwerp Province).
The drug gang wanted to recover the cargo at any cost, not surprising given that it was worth around 250 million euro. However, when they arrived at the warehouse in Kalmthout the drugs weren’t there. They had already been moved to a customs warehouse in Antwerp.
That same day, police were able to intercept a suspicious van just a stone's throw away from the customs warehouse. Seven heavily armed men were arrested.
The public prosecutor says that there could have been a bloodbath if the drugs had still been in the warehouse. “This armed commando was prepared to recover that batch of cocaine at all costs”, the prosecutor said during the trial.
The judge agreed and in summing up told the court that “They were in no way thinking about the consequences of their actions”.
The man behind the botched raid was the Dutch drug baron Jos Leijdekkers. He has once again been given a long lengthy prison sentence, this time of 13 years.
Jos Leijdekkers had already been sentenced to 24 years in prison for ordering a contract killing and his part in six cases of drug trafficking. However, ‘Bolle Jos’ has been on the run for years and recently he was seen in video footage that had been shot in Sierra Leone. He is said to be having an affair with the daughter of the country’s president.
The seven members of the command team received prison sentences of 10 years. In addition to them, 11 other defendants also stood trial. Two of them were acquitted, while the rest received prison sentences between 1 year suspended and 9 years. Fines of up to 8,000 euro were also issued.