MONROVIA, Liberia – Liberia has charged former Vice-President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences over an alleged transnational cocaine trafficking network.
Howard-Taylor, 63, was detained on Wednesday at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia before she could board a flight, according to the Liberian Ministry of Justice.
The development, reported by Okay News, follows a major investigation into a cocaine shipment valued at about $317 million, which police say is linked to an international trafficking network.
Liberia’s police chief, Gregory Coleman, linked the former vice-president to the seizure, although authorities have not publicly detailed the evidence against her.
Howard-Taylor has not commented publicly on the allegations. Her lawyer told the BBC that he could not comment until she was formally charged in court.
The charges include unlicensed importation, sale and transportation of controlled drugs, illicit trafficking, criminal solicitation and criminal facilitation.
Authorities have also charged three foreign nationals – two Croatians and one Ukrainian – in absentia over their alleged involvement in the same network.
Justice Minister Oswald Tweh said Liberia would use domestic and international measures to locate and arrest the three suspects.
Major Cocaine Seizures
The case comes as Liberia intensifies its crackdown on cocaine trafficking following major drug seizures in June and July.
Nearly four tonnes of cocaine believed to have been destined for Europe were seized during a July operation, which authorities described as the country’s largest drug bust.
Investigators say the operation exposed a sophisticated transnational trafficking network and has since expanded to include senior figures within Liberia’s security establishment.
The government said the investigation is targeting financiers, organisers and individuals accused of facilitating or protecting the trafficking operation.
“No office is too high, no political connection is too powerful, no nationality provides immunity, and no individual is beyond the reach of the law,” the government said.
Howard-Taylor entered politics after her former husband, Charles Taylor, left office as Liberia’s president in 2003. She later served as vice-president under former President George Weah from 2018 to 2024.
Charles Taylor, a former rebel leader, was later convicted by a UN-backed tribunal for aiding and abetting rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
The latest investigation comes amid growing concerns over West Africa’s role as a transit corridor for cocaine shipments from South America to Europe, with traffickers exploiting porous borders and gaps in enforcement.
