Record reward offered for capture of fugitive cocaine kingpin dubbed “Chubby Jos”

Updated on: November 2, 2026 / 7:32 AM EST / CBS/AFP

Dutch authorities are offering a record reward of 2 million euros ($2.2 million) for information leading to the arrest of Jos Leijdekkers, one of Europe's most-wanted drug traffickers, currently hiding in Sierra Leone.

The arrest of Leijdekkers, also known as "Bolle Jos" ("Chubby Jos"), is "the highest priority for the Public Prosecution Service and the police," said Dutch prosecutors in a statement, multiplying by 10 their previous reward.

Leijdekkers is considered to be one of the key players in the international cocaine trade.

A court in Rotterdam sentenced him in absentia in 2024 to 24 years in prison for drug shipments totaling nearly 7,000 kilos of cocaine, 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.

Any information shared with prosecutors will be kept secret, the Dutch authorities said in a statement.

In January 2025, Dutch authorities said they were "absolutely certain" he was hiding out 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."

Original source: https://www.cbsnews.com/world/