He is listed by Europol, the EU’s law enforcement company, as among their most-wanted fugitives.
In January 2025, Dutch police said he was believed to be residing in Sierra Leone and going by the title Omar Sherrif.
Images apparently exhibiting Leijdekkers in the company of President Julius Maada Bio and other officers have beforehand emerged.
Dutch prosecutors have demanded his extradition but Sierra Leone has refused to cooperate, prompting the EU to cut some assist to the nation.
West Africa is a main transit level for cocaine trafficking from Latin America.
In 2024, a court in Rotterdam sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia to 24 years in prison after discovering him guilty of smuggling more than seven metric tons of cocaine.
Several other police investigations in the Netherlands are ongoing.
Leijdekkers has also been sentenced to 79 years in prison in Belgium.
Dutch authorities estimate he has made tens of thousands and thousands of euros from cocaine smuggling, and accuse him of money laundering and involvement in the use of excessive violence.
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