The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has said the Commission has been informed by its partners in the Netherlands that wanted Dutch drug suspect Boelle Jos believed to be linked to the recent €225m cocaine seizure in France is currently hiding in Sierra Leone.
Acting Director of Public Affairs and International Relations at NACOC, PNCO Francis Opoku Amoah in an interview on TV3’s The KeyPoints said the information was shared with the Commission by its Dutch counterparts as efforts continue to locate and apprehend the suspect.
“We have information from our colleagues who are in Netherlands who are saying that they believe he [Boelle Jos] is currently hiding in Sierra Leone. That is what we have been told by our partners in the Netherlands,” he said.
According to him, reports that Boelle Jos may be receiving high-level protection could make efforts to apprehend him more difficult.
“If he is under high level protection as being reported then it will be difficult. It makes it very difficult to get such a person,” Mr Opoku Amoah said.
PNCO Francis Opoku Amoah said intelligence available to Ghanaian authorities indicates that Boelle Jos has not yet entered the country.
He said NACOC was working closely with authorities in the Netherlands to explore possible avenues to assist in locating the suspect.
“We are working closely with the Netherlands if there is any way they could help,” he added.
Background
On September 7, French Customs at the Port of Dunkirk intercepted a container of plastic waste that had originated from Ghana and was bound for Antwerp, Belgium. The container was found to contain 167 bales of cocaine weighing 3.9 metric tonnes, with an estimated street value of €225 million (about $261 million).
French authorities said the shipment was uncovered after their judicial police had already been targeting the network behind it. France’s National Jurisdiction against Organized Crime has opened an investigation for organized importation of narcotics and criminal association.
The seizure has been linked by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf and Belgian newspaper HLN to fugitive Dutch drug lord Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos.” Leijdekkers, 33, is one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives, sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison in the Netherlands for trafficking nearly seven tonnes of cocaine. He is believed by Dutch authorities to be hiding in Sierra Leone.
Following the bust, NACOC on September 14 announced the arrest of three suspects in Ghana accused of representing and facilitating Leijdekkers’ network in Ghana. The Commission said they had been on its radar and under surveillance for some time.
In the Netherlands, a man from Dordrecht – where the shipment was reportedly destined for a business address – was also arrested on September 4 in connection with the consignment and has been remanded in custody.
NACOC says intelligence indicates that Bolle Jos himself has not entered Ghana, but maintains that his associates were operating from Ghana.
The Commission says investigations are ongoing and more accomplices will be brought to face the law.
