Dog breeder in Best challenges planned closure

◆1 source

A controversial dog breeder in Best is trying to prevent the closure of his business, which the municipality says has operated in breach of the zoning plan for more than 40 years. The breeder is required to stop in February and is claiming transitional rights based on a permit from 1982 that the municipality says it cannot find in its records.

Figures cited in the case show that 3,165 puppies were born on the site over 12 years. In April, 188 dogs were counted there.

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Crime

Reward for information on Jos Leijdekkers raised to €2 million

12 sources

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service raised the reward for information leading to the arrest of fugitive drug trafficker Jos Leijdekkers, known as Bolle Jos, from €200,000 to €2 million. The amount is the highest reward ever offered in the Netherlands for such a tip. The authorities and Justice Minister David van Weel said they aim to make the reward widely known in Sierra Leone and elsewhere in West Africa, where Leijdekkers is believed to be staying, in the hope of obtaining information about his whereabouts or movements that leads to his arrest. Leijdekkers has been sentenced to 24 years in prison in the Netherlands.

Crime

Allegations about Jos Leijdekkers' network in Sierra Leone

6 sources

An investigation reported that Dutch fugitive drug-trafficking suspect Jos Leijdekkers, known as Bolle Jos, had built a network in Sierra Leone after arriving there in 2022. It alleged that he enjoyed protection from politically connected figures and members of the security services, while operating a cocaine-trafficking network from Freetown. The investigation also linked the network to abductions, killings, intimidation and corruption. Sierra Leonean authorities denied involvement in drug trafficking. One report said Leijdekkers had ordered the killings of at least 14 people, citing Western intelligence sources. Another reported that the Netherlands had sought his extradition and that the European Union had suspended financial support to Sierra Leone over a lack of cooperation in his arrest and extradition. Leijdekkers remains at large, while pressure to locate and arrest him has increased.