Fugitive at the Centre of One of the World’s Biggest Drug Busts

A record cocaine seizure on the high seas has blown open an international smuggling network. Spanish authorities allege a Dutch fugitive sheltering in West Africa ran the entire operation.

On 1 May 2026, Spain’s Civil Guard intercepted the cargo ship Arconian in international waters off the West African coast. Officers found more than 30 tonnes of cocaine worth over $954 million on board. They arrested 23 people, including Dutch, Surinamese and Filipino nationals.

Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska called the haul “one of the biggest, not only nationally but internationally.” This historic drug bust at sea sent shockwaves through law enforcement circles across Europe. According to Europol, cocaine seizures in Europe rose by 31% between 2020 and 2023, yet this single haul dwarfed most on record.

The Man Behind the Record Cocaine Seizure

Spanish law enforcement allege that Joseph “Jos” Leijdekkers masterminded the record cocaine seizure. He is a Dutch national living in Sierra Leone and sits on the European Union’s most wanted fugitives list.

Lieutenant Colonel Oscar Remacha leads the Civil Guard’s anti-drug trafficking department. He told OCCRP that Leijdekkers built and directed the whole operation.

“He had those 30 tonnes stored in Sierra Leone, and he organised the transport and supplied the drugs,” Remacha alleged.

Spanish court documents do not name Leijdekkers among those formally charged. His lawyer received questions from OCCRP but replied: “I see no reason to respond.”

A Dutch court sentenced Leijdekkers in absentia in 2024. He received 24 years for drug trafficking, armed robbery and ordering murder. Dutch authorities offer a 200,000 euro ($232,208) reward for tips leading to his arrest. So far, they cannot secure his extradition from Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone: A Haven for Drug Smugglers

The Arconian left from Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital. That fact cast a harsh spotlight on the country’s growing role as a hub for transnational drug smuggling.

Leijdekkers reportedly built close ties with Sierra Leone’s political and economic elite. Remacha says those connections give him “total impunity, total confidence” to run his network freely.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime flagged Sierra Leone’s vulnerability to organised crime long before this historic drug bust at sea. West Africa has seen a steep rise in cocaine transshipment. Traffickers exploit weak enforcement and, in some cases, corruption within local institutions.

Opposition leader Abdul Kargbo wrote an open letter to President Julius Maada Bio on 10 May. He criticised the government’s “prolonged silence and apparent hesitation” over Sierra Leone’s role in drug trafficking. He singled out Leijdekkers’ continued presence in the country as particularly troubling.

The Sierra Leone Police and Internal Affairs Ministry did not comment before publication. In February 2026, the government announced 52 drug-related convictions and called organised crime “a serious threat to national security.”

How Smugglers Planned to Bring the Cocaine to Europe

Paper records showed the Arconian heading to the Libyan port of Benghazi. Spanish authorities say that was a decoy. The real plan involved high-speed boats picking up cocaine packages mid-ocean and running them to the Spanish coast.

Remacha noted a sharp rise in this method. “We have seen so many videos and images of groups of these boats rafted together 150 miles off the coast, waiting to go out like they are at a taxi stand,” he said.

The Civil Guard’s maritime intelligence team studied dozens of ships before identifying the Arconian. Dutch and US law enforcement then confirmed the lead. Remacha believes earlier runs used the same tactic, and this record cocaine seizure was simply the one that got caught.

“He knows getting it out of Sierra Leone is easy for him,” Remacha said. “After that, it is not normal for a ship on that specific itinerary to undergo any inspection unless it approaches a port. So he was quite confident he would not get caught.”

Netherlands police searched the homes of four Arconian crew members this week as the investigation continues.

The Scale of the Problem

This historic drug bust at sea lays bare the true reach of the global cocaine trade. The UNODC estimates global cocaine production now exceeds 2,000 tonnes per year, a record high. Europe remains the fastest-growing destination market, and West Africa sits at the centre of that supply chain.

Networks behind a record cocaine seizure of this size take years to build. They need political protection, geographic advantage and precise logistics. When authorities finally crack them open, the damage these operations cause across communities becomes impossible to ignore.

Source: occrp