Major Drug Trafficking Trial Begins in Belgium, Implicating 62 Suspects

Since Monday, 62 individuals involved in the major Costa drug case are answering for their actions before the Tongeren criminal court. Among them are businessmen and lawyers, a port manager, dockers, a doctor, the drug baron "Bolle Jos", the president of the Bandido motorcycle club. They are suspected of international trafficking of at least 27 tons of drugs. The trial will continue until March 21. This is the largest drug case ever handled in Limburg, notes La Dernière Heure.

Jos Leijdekker alias "Bolle Jos" is appearing in absentia. He is one of Europe’s most wanted fugitives. The Dutchman was recently spotted in Sierra Leone in the arms... of the president’s daughter, but he escaped arrest. Convicted of ordering an attempt to steal a 10-ton cocaine shipment from the Antwerp customs, he was sentenced to 13 years in prison for drug trafficking at the end of last February.

Five months ago, the mega-trial for international cocaine and cannabis trafficking that took place before the criminal court relocated to Justitia, the former NATO headquarters converted into a highly secure judicial venue, came to an end. In total, 119 defendants, including Maghrebians, were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 months to 17 years. They were importing drugs from South America and Morocco to Belgium. The network was dismantled thanks to the decryption of the Encrochat and Sky ECC messaging services.