The European Commission has suspended financial aid to Sierra Leone over the country’s refusal to arrest and extradite convicted cocaine kingpin Jos Leijdekkers, widely known as “Bolle Jos,” Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said on Thursday.

The decision affects €18 million in budget support earmarked for this year, with an additional €22.5 million for next year also at risk if Freetown continues to refuse cooperation, Van Weel said.

Leijdekkers, a Dutch national who has been living under the alias Omar Sheriff in Sierra Leone since at least 2023, is one of Europe’s most-wanted fugitives. He was sentenced in absentia to 24 years in prison in the Netherlands for smuggling more than seven tonnes of cocaine, and faces around 100 years in combined sentences in Belgium and the Netherlands for drug trafficking and related offences.

The Netherlands has repeatedly requested his extradition, but Sierra Leonean authorities maintain they do not know his whereabouts.

The European Commission and the government of Sierra Leone have not yet commented on the suspension.