Sierra Leone’s Suspected Cybercrime Network: Who Was Behind 1,206 Phones, 301 Passports and Five Servers?
Sierra Leone’s raids on a suspected cybercrime network have raised a question beyond the scale of the seizures: what led authorities to the operation? Described as intelligence-led and carried out by security forces working with NaTCA, the telecommunications regulator, the raids reportedly yielded 1,206 mobile phones, more than 500 computers and monitors, 301 passports, 339 SIM cards and five servers.
The critical issue is what the evidence establishes: whether institutions missed identifiable warning signs or whether the raids demonstrate an effective investigation.
#Sierra Leone | #Cybercrime
'Bolle' Jos Leijdekkers and the Broader Developments in Dutch and International Organized Crime
European and African authorities have been locked in a high-stakes game for Jos Leijdekkers, the Dutch-born cocaine trafficker widely known by the alias Bolle Jos. Convicted in absentia and on Europol’s most-wanted list, Leijdekkers remains a fugitive — eluding capture and drawing fresh international scrutiny as law enforcement ramps up efforts to bring him to justice.
The Netherlands has formally requested Leijdekkers’ arrest and extradition from Sierra Leone, but progress has been slow and complicated by politics and legal barriers.
While Leijdekkers remains free, remnants of the Dutch organized crime underworld continue to make headlines. Ridouan Taghi, once the Netherlands’ most-wanted fugitive linked to the notorious Mocro Maffia network, was arrested in the United Arab Emirates in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison after a landmark trial known as the Marengo case.