How international media reported arrest of 3 alleged accomplices of Dutch drug lord Bolle Jos

The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), on Monday, September 14, 2026, announced the arrest of three suspects alleged to be accomplices of Dutch fugitive drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, popularly known as "Bolle Jos", in Ghana. The arrests follow the seizure of a major cocaine shipment by French customs, which authorities say is allegedly linked to a wider trafficking network. The arrest was widely reported in a number of European countries, including the Netherlands, where “Bolle Jos” has reportedly been convicted, as well as other European countries. According to a report by [nltimes.nl](http://nltimes.nl), officials of the Dutch government welcomed the arrest of the accomplices. The Minister of Justice and Security of the Netherlands, David van Weel, is reported to have commended the Narcotics Control Commission of Ghana for the arrest of the three suspects. "Compliments to Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission for arresting these three suspects. With this action, they have dealt another blow to the international drug trade. Together, we are dismantling these criminal drug networks wherever they operate in the world," the Justice and Security Minister is quoted as having said. Bolle Jos Read the full report below: Three of Dutch drug lord Jos Leijdekkers’s accomplices have been arrested in Ghana, the nation’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) have reported. The Ghanian narcotics officers stated that the men represented Leijdekkers, also known as Bolle Jos, and facilitated his activities. The arrests came after an interception of a shipment of cocaine by French customs officers, the NACOC wrote on X. "Compliments to Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission for arresting these three suspects. With this action, they have dealt another blow to the international drug trade. Together, we are dismantling these criminal drug networks wherever they operate in the world," Justice and Security Minister David van Weel said. The arrest aligns with a highly publicised, tightening domestic stance on narcotics. NACOC has recently escalated its public destruction of seized drugs and threatened to revoke the licenses of local businesses or pharmacies found complicit in facilitating transnational smuggling rings. The NACOC emphasised that the country does not want to become a haven for drug traffickers. The AD writes that one of the three arrestees, Desmond C., is one of Leijdekkers’ most important accomplices. C, identified in Ghanaian Business News as Desmond Curiel, and Leijdekkers were once held in the same prison, the report states. C has previous convictions for violent robberies committed against jewelers and jewelry sellers in 2012 and 2013. Around that same time, Leijdekkers was serving time for the 2011 shooting of two brothers in Scheveningen. Leijdekkers has been sentenced multiple times in absentia across Europe. Most notably, in February 2025, a Belgian court sentenced him to 14 years in prison for masterminding an operation to raid a customs warehouse in Kalmthout to retrieve 10 tonnes of seized cocaine. Leijdekkers has been a fugitive for years and is currently in Sierra Leone, Dutch authorities say. BAI Stan Dogbe Orders Kpeshie Lagoon Restoration After Demolition of Illegal Structures Source: www.ghanaweb.com
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