Costa: convictions of Bolle Jos and Belgian crime figures followed by appeals
Belgium’s Costa case concerns more than 23 tonnes of proven cocaine imports, criminal organisations and laundering. Following the judgment of 30 July, TV Limburg reported on 1 September that appeals had been filed for 26 defendants.
The Limburg Court of First Instance convicted 51 defendants and acquitted five, including two lawyers. According to the official court statement, four of those convicted led separate criminal organisations. Some groups arranged imports from South America, while others removed cocaine from Antwerp’s port. Cooperation on shipments did not mean everyone legally belonged to the same organisation, the judges said.
ANP reported that Jos Leijdekkers, known as Bolle Jos, received fourteen years. Geert Frisson was sentenced to thirteen years, Tom Bastiaanse to twelve and former gendarme Willy Van Mechelen to nine.
The court relied on surveillance, intercepted shipments, searches and Sky ECC messages, among other evidence. It said procedural objections concerning matters including Sky ECC and a possible civilian infiltrator did not justify excluding evidence, ordering further investigations or declaring the prosecution inadmissible. In addition to seized property, it ordered confiscation of more than €60 million in criminal proceeds.
On 1 September, TV Limburg reported, with confirmation from court spokesperson Luc De Cleir, that appeals concerned 26 defendants. Frisson, Bastiaanse and Van Mechelen were among those involved; federal prosecutors also challenged the two lawyers’ acquittals. According to TVL, Bastiaanse had accepted his sentence, but the prosecution’s appeal meant his case would still be reheard.
