IPNEWS: Sierra Leone’s declaration that its security authorities are actively searching for internationally wanted Dutch drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers raises a difficult question: Is the government genuinely hunting a fugitive who allegedly lived openly within elite circles, or has the public now been asked to believe that a man who appeared remarkably comfortable around powerful people somehow became invisible to the state?
The question follows comments by Abdul Karim Will, Director of Strategic Communications at Sierra Leone’s Office of National Security (ONS), who told AYV’s State of the Nation programme that Sierra Leone is “officially looking for Umarr Sheriff” and “also looking for Jos Leijdekkers in Sierra Leone.”
Will said Sierra Leonean security authorities have conducted joint operations with counterparts in Liberia and appealed to the public to provide information that could lead to Leijdekkers’ whereabouts.
He also stressed that international drug networks are highly organised and capable of penetrating national security systems.
That explanation, however, creates an uncomfortable contradiction.
How does a man described as one of Europe’s most wanted drug traffickers allegedly spend time in Sierra Leone, appear at high-profile social and religious events, associate with members of the presidential family and reportedly move within elite circles — only for the security establishment to later tell the public that it is looking for him?
Reports by The Guardian previously placed Leijdekkers in Sierra Leone for at least two years and said he was seen at social events in Freetown. He was also filmed at a New Year’s Day church service in January 2025, sitting near President Julius Maada Bio and alongside Agnes Bio, the President’s daughter.
The reported association with Agnes Bio has generated particularly serious questions. Multiple reports have described Leijdekkers as being in a relationship with her. In September 2025, Dutch media reported that Agnes Bio and Leijdekkers had welcomed a child, although the Sierra Leonean presidential family has disputed or rejected allegations concerning its relationship with the fugitive.
These are not merely questions about a fugitive hiding in an abandoned building.
They concern a man who, according to published investigations, was allegedly able to move through environments where senior political, business and security figures were present.
That is what makes the latest ONS statement so difficult to digest.
If Leijdekkers was genuinely hiding from Sierra Leonean authorities, how did he allegedly manage to maintain such visibility?
And if the authorities knew about him, another question becomes even more important: why was he not arrested?
The Sierra Leone government has previously faced international scrutiny over the Leijdekkers allegations. The Dutch fugitive was convicted in absentia in the Netherlands and has been described in international reporting as a major figure in the European cocaine trade. The Guardian reported that Dutch authorities had sought his extradition after reports emerged that he was residing in Sierra Leone.
The issue therefore goes beyond locating one fugitive.
It raises questions about the effectiveness of Sierra Leone’s intelligence system, the integrity of its security institutions and whether powerful social connections can provide an international criminal with protection or access that ordinary fugitives could never obtain.
The ONS says the security architecture is “organised and prepared” to counter international drug networks.
That claim deserves to be tested against the facts.
A security system cannot convincingly claim to be hunting a highly wanted international trafficker while the public is left wondering how that same individual allegedly managed to appear at public events, interact with members of the political elite and reportedly establish personal relationships within the presidential family.
That is the central contradiction.
The authorities are now asking ordinary citizens to provide information about a man who, according to published reports, may have spent years moving within circles that were far more powerful and better connected than the average citizen.
So, rather than simply asking the public to help find Jos Leijdekkers, Sierra Leonean authorities should answer a more fundamental question:
Where was the security apparatus when he was allegedly living, socialising and moving around Sierra Leone?
And if he was protected by no one, as authorities may argue, how did one of Europe’s most wanted drug fugitives allegedly remain beyond the reach of a state that now says it is actively looking for him?
Until those questions are answered, the declaration that Sierra Leone is “looking for” Leijdekkers risks sounding less like evidence of an effective manhunt and more like an admission of how badly the system may have failed.
The public deserves more than another appeal for information.
It deserves answers.
