The Sierra Leonean police says it has made a discovery that the individual seen in videos and photos in close proximity to the country’s president, and identified by Dutch media as the wanted drug baron, Jos Leijdekkers is rather known as Umar Sherif.
In the videos and photos, Leijdekkers is seen in the company of Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio and his daughter, Agnes Bio, with whom Leijdekkers is believed to be in a romantic relationship.
In a dramatic twist of events following the discovery that Leijdekkers, wanted in his home country of The Netherlands and in Europe, has been living in Sierra Leone for at least six months, and seen in videos sitting close to and on a farm harvesting rice with the Sierra Leonean president and his daughter, is Umar Sherif.
The Inspector General of Police (IGP) of Sierra Leone, Willam Sellu told reporters at a press conference Tuesday February 4, 2025, that the individual is known as Umar Sherif. According to the IGP, they have raided every suspected place and searched everywhere they had hoped to find the said Umar Sherif but have failed.
“The picture that has been circulating on social media as Jos Leijdekkers—we have been able to, through our Open Source Investigation Unit, affix a name to that face, which is Umar Sherif,” IGP Sellu said.
He said the police came to that conclusion after its Open Source Investigation Unit had examined the videos and photos in which the individual appears. He also said after thoroughly reviewing the country’s formal entry records for the past six months, they found no trace of Sherif’s official entry into or exit out of Sierra Leone, adding that the authorities remain uncertain of Sherif’s whereabouts or activities in the country.
“We don’t have that name in our records,” he emphasized.
He urged citizens to inform the police if they get any information on the individual.
The 33-year-old Leijdekkers, nicknamed Bolle Jos, is wanted for drug smuggling in The Netherlands. The fugitive has also been described as Europe’s most wanted man.
Leijdekkers was sentenced to 24 years in prison in absentia in June last year by a Rotterdam court for the offence of smuggling seven tonnes of cocaine, an armed robbery in Finland and ordering murder. In September last year, a Belgian court also sentenced him to 10 years in prison for drug trafficking offences and assault. Dutch police also suspect his involvement in the disappearance and suspected torture and murder of Naima Jilal, a woman who disappeared in Amsterdam in 2019.
Meanwhile, the government of The Netherlands through its Ministry of Justice says it will make an extradition request to the Sierra Leonean authorities, even though the two countries have no extradition treaty.
Dutch prosecutor, Wim de Bruin had told Ghana Business News on the phone that the Minister of Justice of The Netherlands will be writing to Sierra Leonean authorities for the extradition of Leijdekkers.
By Emmanuel K Dogbevi