6 months Ago
Cocaine, Gold and Extravagant Spending
The OM suspects Leijdekkers earned the money on the basis of investments in 14 different cocaine transports of 14,000 kilos of cocaine over the course of a year. These operations were estimated to have cost more than €114 million. Prosecutors said the scope of his drug trade was "big business involving astronomical amounts of money."
Aside from his drug trades, Leijdekkers was said to have bought 975 kilograms of gold for €47 million in less than six months. He also bought property in Dubai and Turkey. He spent the proceeds on luxury vehicles, among them two Bentleys, and designer merchandise such as costly jewelry and watches, some of which he gave to his relatives as gifts, according to authorities. The evidence was largely gathered through exchanges of encrypted chat messages.
OM added that this seizure bid is only the start. "This is a mere first step in the process of revealing the full extent of assets held by Leijdekkers," a spokesperson said.
Life Overseas and Legal Barriers
In January, video emerged of Leijdekkers at a church service in Sierra Leone, where he is seen alongside the country's president, Julius Maada Bio. The photos led to questions over his reportedly close relationship with local officials.
By that time Dutch police and the OM think he had been living in Sierra Leone for at least half a year, or perhaps had already been granted local citizenship. The ability to extradite him under the Dutch request however has been complicated by the fact that the Netherlands has no extradition treaty with Sierra Leone and there is no Dutch embassy there.
Still, the Netherlands officially requested his extradition in February. Sierra Leone's Justice minister David van Weel called on his country's officials to act fast and secure a conviction. 'Sierra Leone Police are searching for a Leijdekkers who is alleged to be hiding in the country under the name Omar Sheriff,' Inspector General William Fayia Sellu is quoted as saying.
