Roughly half a billion euros price of cocaine is claimed to have been smuggled into Europe through the Belgian gang of Jos Leijdekkers. Dissolved in garments or hidden beneath cashew nuts. Throughout the mega trial in Liège, ‘Bolle Jos’ was conspicuous by his absence, however he did obtain a mega sentence: 20 years in jail.
‘Bolle Jos’ is seen by the Belgians as the person who labored carefully with the 2 alleged leaders of the Liège gang between 2017 and 2021: Belgians Dries L. and David C. The police managed to intercept two drug transports from the group: from 1.1 tons and 793 kilos. However in accordance with the judiciary, the gang might have smuggled at least 15,000 kilos of cocaine between 2017 and 2021. Transformed to the commerce worth that was talked about throughout the lawsuit (32,000 euros per kilo), you find yourself with a complete quantity of virtually half a billion.
Whether it is as much as the judiciary, the 2 Belgian leaders should go to jail for fifteen years, however the largest sentence was heard in opposition to Leijdekkers this month: 20 years in jail. But in current months in Liège it has hardly ever been concerning the Brabander. For 2 months now, the mega trial in opposition to the drug gang has been happening within the Walloon metropolis beneath heavy safety. Of the 37 suspects within the case, solely the alleged ringleader of the gang by no means confirmed his face.
Leijdekkers has not been in court docket and has not even bothered to have a lawyer defend himself. His Dutch lawyer Man Weski doesn’t wish to remark additional on the case. Bolle Jos might be hiding in Turkey. He has been essentially the most wished legal within the Netherlands for greater than a 12 months and can be on Europol’s Most Needed checklist. The reward for the golden tip that results in him was elevated to 200,000 euros in March.
29 microwaves
Throughout the classes, it grew to become particularly clear how the Liège gang would have operated. The cocaine got here from Colombia and was smuggled into Europe through the ports of Antwerp or Rotterdam. It was hidden in containers stuffed with watermelons, lemons or cashews. The medication had been additionally chemically dissolved in clothes. On this approach, the coke can’t be seen on scans of port containers at customs and sniffer canines are sometimes unable to detect it.
In two small villages within the Ardennes, Strée and Ferrières, the gang had coke laundries to take away the medication from the clothes via a chemical course of. Then the moist coke went right into a press to make blocks. In keeping with the Belgian information company Belga, the police discovered at least 29 microwave ovens within the Belgian labs that had been used to dry the medication after the trial.
Subsequent month it’s going to change into clear what punishments the court docket will impose on Jos Leijdekkers and the remainder. But when convicted, the query is whether or not he’ll ever serve sooner or later of the sentence imposed. The Brabander is internationally signaled on the request of the Netherlands. Not Belgium. If he’s arrested, it’s due to this fact additionally apparent that he will probably be extradited to the Netherlands. In our nation, Leijdekkers is linked to large-scale drug trafficking, but in addition varied liquidations.
Learn a portrait of Jos Leijdekkers right here: rich, elusive and, above all, feared. About how the nation’s most wished legal quickly grew to change into a linchpin within the international cocaine commerce.
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