Mafia boss ‘Chubby Jos’ tracked down after pics gave away location but shock twist means cops can’t touch him…for now
Mafia boss ‘Chubby Jos’ tracked down after pics gave away location but shock twist means cops can’t touch him…for now
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A DUTCH cocaine kingpin known as "Chubby Jos" has finally been tracked down after pictures gave away his location. But a jaw-dropping twist means the authorities can’t touch one of Europe’s most-wanted criminals — at least for now. Jos Leijdekkers, 33, has been hiding out in Sierra Leone for the past six months, Dutch authorities revealed.
![[Mugshot of Jos Leijdekkers, wanted for drug trafficking and money laundering.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/000-euro-reward-offered-decisive-897652480.jpg?strip=all&w=400)
The mobster was located after images and videos surfaced this month showing him at a New Year's Day church in the president's hometown of Tihun. The damning footage, reportedly posted by Sierra Leone's first lady, appears to show Leijdekkers sitting just two rows behind president Julius Maada Bio, next to a woman believed to be the president's daughter.
![[Convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers at a church service in Sierra Leone.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-screen-grab-obtained-social-966393674.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Dubbed a "key player in international cocaine trafficking", Leijdekkers was convicted in absentia last year for smuggling over seven tonnes of cocaine and handed a 24-year prison sentence. And despite a $210,000 bounty for his captured - the highest ever offered for a Dutch fugitive - Leijdekkers remains untouchable as Sierra Leone has no extradition treaty with the Netherlands.
![[Convicted cocaine smuggler Jos Leijdekkers at a church service.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/2025-screen-grab-obtained-social-966389766.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Leijdekkers' possible link to Sierra Leone's first family also seemed to have raised eyebrows. Dutch prosecutor Wim de Bruin said the fugitive's return to the Netherlands was of "the highest priority". Sierra Leonean authorities, however, remain silent on the matter, with no official comment from government spokespersons.
![[Man and child on a jet ski.]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/NINTCHDBPICT000966844129.jpg?strip=all&w=312)
