Sierra Leone: The cocaine trail

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1:40Hello and welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Ed Butler and today we're on the trail of a wanted drugs kingpin from the Netherlands. The extraordinary rise and mystery surrounding Jos Leidekes. Leidekes is a significant trafficker in the global cocaine business. He has been convicted of several cocaine trafficking charges in both Netherlands and Belgium. He's been filmed and repeatedly identified in the capital of a West African country, Sierra Leone. But what's the government doing about it? He visits the president's daughter. They also like to go out together. So the authorities said, we don't know him, but local people tell us we know he's connected to the president.

2:27Tracking one of Europe's top drugs fugitives. That's all to come on this edition of The Documentary.

2:45May 1st this year, and the head of the Spanish Coast Guard's anti-drug operation, Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Ramacha, receives a tip-off. A cargo boat, the Arconian, is travelling across the Atlantic. It's about to transfer a large shipment of cocaine, he's been told, to smaller speedboats off the southern coast of Spain.

3:11Ed Butler:We knew six fastboats were to introduce this cocaine through the coast of Spain, Huelva and Calif. So the cocaine was heading for the Spanish market, you think? Some part is for the Spanish market, but the other part is spread through the European countries and also other countries from Asia or wherever. Customs officers board the ship.

3:44What they found was no ordinary haul. Some 30 tonnes of cocaine packaged in plain view along a corridor running from bow to stern. It was the biggest seaborne seizure of cocaine ever made. 22 crew members from Europe, Africa and Suriname were arrested. But the suspected mastermind behind the shipment, a Dutch drug dealer called Jos Leideckers, who's based in Sierra Leone, well, he remained at large. How do you know this has come from Jos Leideckers?

4:20Ed Butler:One is the origin of the ship who started his trip from Sierra Leone. He controlled all the cocaine that goes from Sierra Leone to other parts of the world. And we have also more information that he is receiving the cocaine from Suriname. He is putting in big warehouses. He's the number one for us. Would you say he is the most important figure in the West African trade coming to Europe? Of course. He's the boss in Sierra Leone, but he's also, as an octopus, he has his fingers in other parts of the world. This massive cocaine seizure from West Africa may only be the tip of the iceberg. Lucia Bird runs the Observatory of Illicit Economies in West Africa, at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

5:18She says the region has become central for meeting Europe's hungry appetite for cocaine. We have many indicators from seizures to increasing local consumption and decreasing retail prices that really point to a surge in the volume of cocaine that is being moved through West Africa towards Europe. And West Africa is not just a transit zone. It's really a logistics hub where cocaine is imported, it's amalgamated or cut up and then redistributed through the best channels to Europe. And trafficking cocaine through West Africa has allowed trafficking networks to sidestep some of the increased scrutiny that trade flows from Latin America were experiencing coming into Europe.

6:11Are you worried about state capture here, that literally we have governments in West Africa that are beyond the reach of international law enforcement? the word narco state has been used far too freely and without a clear definition what we can evidence is that the world's cocaine trade is bigger than it's ever been and that a very significant portion of that is moving through west africa now with more cocaine comes more money and some of that money is being used to purchase protection The Spanish seizure has certainly added to the global focus on Jos Leidekes. Just 35 years old, he's already one of Europe's most wanted drug fugitives.

7:04Jos Leidekes grew up in the south of the Netherlands, near a city called Breda, located right between the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and also Vlissingen, famous or infamous for its cocaine trafficking. And I think that's undoubtedly played a part in how Jos ended up in the life of crime. This is Giel Timmermans. He's a Dutch journalist who's pieced together what's known about the beginnings of the Netherlands' Mr Big. When he was 19 years old, he gets in an argument in a nightclub. And then suddenly Jos Leideck pulls a gun from underneath his jacket and then shoots two brothers. Both of them survived the shooting.

7:48But it's his first real conviction in the Netherlands because Jules ended up four years in prison. We all know, of course, that prison is like university of crime. That's where you meet other people, you get connected. And we know that he came in contact with some big traffickers. When he was three, he was groomed very rapidly in the scene of cocaine trafficking. he had a brilliant corrupt contacts in the harbors of especially Antwerp but also Rotterdam so other big criminals who wanted their drugs they hired Jos Leideckes to to help them because he had the corrupt contacts he had the people to take out the drugs from the containers and four years later he was already a big shot in the cocaine trafficking so it was very rapidly and nobody knew who he was.

8:43Or at least not until 2019, when Dutch police cracked the secret telephone networks used amongst the local cocaine dealers. But before they could move in and seize him, Jos Leidekes had fled to Turkey. The authorities were unable to reach him there, although in his absence, both Dutch and Belgian courts have now sentenced Jos Leidekes on multiple counts. He was convicted for 24 years in prison for cocaine trafficking, but also violence. In Belgium, you have all kinds of cases. I think it's up to 65 years in prison, divided in seven cases, court cases. So if you all add it up, he has to be in prison for another 89 years.

9:30So suddenly, Jules Leideckes is one of the biggest guys we all know now. And suddenly, you see law enforcement in America, England, Spain, Italy. They are all focusing on this Jos Leideckers. Dutch journalist Heel Timmermans. You're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

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11:34I'm Ed Butler and today I'm looking at the criminal career of one of Europe's most wanted drugs dealers and how he wound up in plain sight in one of Africa's poorest nations. It wasn't until June 2023 that Turkish police raided his luxury properties in Istanbul, ball. But again, he jumped the gun and no one knew where he'd gone until a few months later. This was when the Sierra Leonean public first learned of the mysterious and clearly very wealthy foreigner living in their midst. A violent brawl at a nightclub in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, caught on camera. Sophie van Leeuwen is a Dutch TV reporter covering Africa for NTL News.

12:22There has been a shooting. He was involved. Other people were involved. So he was kind of known in Freetown. But the people around him, people working for him, of course. So many people are working in this business. And his drivers know. People know where he goes. At the same time, they've got to be silent. Remind us, what did the police say after that incident? Well, he was a businessman. He was known as Omar Sharif from Turkey. That's the way he presented himself. He had a Turkish passport. So he was known as being a Turkish businessman with a lot of money, investing big money in Sierra Leone.

13:06And that's why he was very welcome. Mysteriously, despite one man suffering two gunshot wounds to his kneecaps, a signature Leideker's punishment, it seems, the Sierra Leonean police dropped all charges against their Turkish suspect. Omar Sharif was never identified in public. People could hardly help noticing him around town, though, a conspicuous and flamboyant foreigner. People knew him because he was giving people, poor people, street boys money, dollars. He was hanging around at the peninsula, of course, you know, where the resorts are, but also at the casino, at the spa, restaurants. It is like a public secret.

13:50Pretty soon, Dutch reporters were starting to ask, was this mystery businessman actually their missing fugitive? Sophie van Leeuwen went to Freetown to investigate further. So I went to the Scarlet Club where the shooting happened. I asked about, have you ever heard of Jules Leideckers? And one guy told me, I know him, He's a very well-known man. He goes to the spa. He likes massage. He visits the president's daughter, Agnes Bio, and he gives her presents, flowers or other presents to the driver. They also like to go out together. So the authority said, we don't know him, but local people tell us we do know him and we know he's connected to the president.

14:39Sophie van Leeuwen.

14:44While the story really gained international attention, when a silent video later emerged showing a church service attended by the president, Julius Marder-Bio, and his wife Fatima, just one row behind them is a clearly recognisable Jos Leidekes, and he's sitting right next to the president's daughter, Agnes. Rumours suggest that the couple may now have a child together. What's more, the video had been published on the First Lady Fatima Biyo's own Facebook page before it was later taken down. In a TV interview this year, the BBC's Megha Mohan questioned the First Lady on the subject. Do you know who Joss Ladeckes is?

15:26I have no idea who he is. You don't know who he is? No. So Joss Ladeckes is one of the most wanted criminals in Europe? I wouldn't know because I'm not a criminal, so I will not know. He is a drug kingpin, and he is said to be married to the president's daughter. Really? Well, maybe in another life. They say that they have a child together. These are all the lies I am not going to validate. I suppose the question is, though, How did one of Europe's most wanted drug dealers get to be so close to Sierra Leone's first family, as was shown in the video? Whoever is in that room is none of my business.

16:15My own video is not prescribed for certain people or that people. I don't bring people into church. I'm not a Christian. I'm a Muslim. So when I go to church service, which means I'm invited like every other person, I don't bring people into church. So I don't know who was in that church. But the rumours on local social media pages persist. Regular drug deliveries have been spotted along the peninsula beaches at night. There are sightings of Lydekas himself, always surrounded by armed guards. In March this year, I visited Sierra Leone myself. When my microphone appeared, though, it was clear local fishermen were not keen to discuss the alleged presence of a major drugs dealer.

17:02They say that there are guys coming with the drugs. Do you ever see any of them, the drug boats? No, no, no, we have never set eyes on that. Our people don't like drugs, so they will not come with drugs here. But with a lowered voice, one man did direct my attention to a nearby harbour. That harbour is not to the benefit of the fisherman. What is it for? Whatever they say it is. They won't tell you the truth. Other things are taking place there which are not... They're not legitimate. They're not legitimate. That's the exact word. Struggling.

17:50Florence Lilema-Katter is a journalist and women's rights activist who did speak to me on the subject. She says that many people in the town are now talking, although they're afraid. We are seeing a lot of comments on Josh Lideckers, him being around, flouting around, you know, enters the nightclub. But according to the police, they do not have any record of him. they do have a record of a Sharif guy, you know. So people around will tell you, oh, we met somebody like him, or, you know. The gossips are saying, and we are reading keenly and ensuring that we take notes on what the media is saying, because it's deeply concerning.

18:45We do not know as Sierra Leoneans whether it's Omar Sharif or it's Josh Lideckers. But is there any doubt that he is still in Freetown? Well, you know, the issue about Josh Lideckers is surrounded with so many allegations and the only appropriate body who can really provide that accurate information that will make serial unions feel, oh, it's the government. We as citizens are still looking forward to having a concrete and honest outcome of the investigations. Freetown journalist and activist Florence Catter. Well, despite the fact that Jos Leidekes is on an Interpol most wanted list, that he's got a 200 ,000 euro reward on his head, and that the Dutch government have formally requested his extradition, Sierra Leone's government have remained unerringly silent.

19:46There is no move, it seems, to extradite him, nor even any acknowledgement that he's in the country. I sought answers from Sierra Leone's Attorney General and Justice Minister Alpha Cisse. Minister, I'm going to put this plainly. You appear to a lot of people to be slow-pedalling this. You appear to have a wanted criminal wandering around Freetown. Some say you appear to be offering him protection. And you seem to be targeting opposition activists and journalists at the same time. They're calling this state capture and that Sierra Leone's democracy is itself under threat. You know, the point is that I think it's an exaggeration, honestly.

20:23You know, the point is every democracy faces its challenges, right? We say that when these things happen, they are really not indictments of failure. They are indications of a democracy that is still finding its footing. I think we really forget the history that this country has walked. This country was destroyed by an 11-year civil conflict. Since the war came to an end, it is really commendable that this country has held five democratic elections, two of which have actually led to the peaceful transfer of power to the opposition. It's a country that is not exposed to religious fundamentalism or terrorism financing.

21:03So the next elections will be free and fair? Of course. Of course. I think that one is guaranteed. And this is a country of laws, you know, so the laws will be applied. the attorney general and justice minister of sierra leone alfa cise for more on jos leidekes and what he's up to in sierra leone and what this controversy may say about the future of one of africa's more vulnerable democracies check out business daily wherever you get your podcasts from me ed butler for now take care

21:42Thank you.