Liberian authorities have charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and a series of related offences as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network.
Attorney General officials said Wednesday that Howard-Taylor, who served as vice president under former President George Weah, was detained at Roberts International Airport while attempting to leave Liberia before being taken to national police headquarters.
The charges include drug trafficking, money laundering, unlicensed importation of a controlled substance, criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy.
Her arrest comes less than a month after Liberian authorities announced the seizure of cocaine valued at around $317 million that was allegedly destined for Europe, a case that drew renewed attention to Liberia’s role as a transit point in international drug trafficking routes.
“There will be no selective justice, political protection, sacred cows or compromise with organized criminality,” the government said in its statement, adding that anyone against whom credible evidence is established would be investigated and prosecuted regardless of political status.
Howard-Taylor’s lawyer, Kabineh M. Ja’neh, said he met with his client earlier Wednesday and was informed that authorities intended to formally charge her, although he had not yet received a copy of the indictment.
“She is in the custody of the Liberia National Police tonight. She will sleep there,” Ja’neh said, adding that the defence would respond once the formal charges were provided.
Authorities have also charged three alleged members of the network in absentia — two Croatian nationals and one Ukrainian national — and said they would seek their arrests through both domestic and international legal mechanisms.
Howard-Taylor, the former wife of convicted war criminal and ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor, served as Liberia’s vice president from January 2018 until January 2024.
The investigation is likely to draw significant political attention in Liberia given Howard-Taylor’s prominence and the scale of the alleged drug network under investigation.