Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, the West African nation’s attorney general said in a statement on Wednesday.
Howard-Taylor served as vice president under former President George Weah from January 2018 to January 2024.
READ: Liberia seizes $317 million of cocaine bound for Europe, police chief says
The arrest of Howard-Taylor, who is also the ex-wife of convicted war criminal Charles Taylor, comes less than a month after Liberian authorities announced that they had seized around $317 million worth of cocaine that was bound for Europe, highlighting the country’s growing role in the global drug trade.
‘No selective justice or political protection’
“There will be no selective justice, political protection, sacred cows or compromise with organised criminality,” the statement said. “Every person against whom credible and admissible evidence is established will be investigated and prosecuted without fear, favour or political consideration.”
Howard-Taylor was stopped while attempting to leave the country at Roberts International Airport and taken to national police headquarters, according to the statement.
The charges against her also include unlicensed importation of a controlled substance, criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy, the statement said.
Howard-Taylor’s lawyer, Kabineh M. Ja’neh, told Reuters that he had met with his client earlier on Wednesday and authorities informed him that they intended to charge her, though he had not seen the indictment.
“She is in the custody of the Liberia National Police tonight. She will sleep there,” he said.
“We would be able to proceed with the matter once we get the formal charge.”
Authorities have also charged in absentia three alleged members of the network – two Croatian nationals and a Ukrainian national – and the statement said that the government would seek their arrest through domestic and international legal channels.
- Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering, unlicensed importation of a controlled substance, criminal solicitation, and criminal conspiracy.
- Howard-Taylor served as vice president under former President George Weah from January 2018 to January 2024 and is the ex-wife of convicted war criminal Charles Taylor.
- Authorities stopped Howard-Taylor at Roberts International Airport while she was attempting to leave the country and took her into custody.
- The charges come less than a month after Liberian authorities seized $317 million worth of cocaine bound for Europe, implicating a transnational narcotics network.
- Three alleged members of the drug network, two Croatian nationals and a Ukrainian national, have been charged in absentia, with authorities seeking their arrest through domestic and international legal channels.
Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, the West African nation's attorney general said in a statement on Wednesday.
Howard-Taylor served as vice president under former President George Weah from January 2018 to January 2024.
READ: Liberia seizes $317 million of cocaine bound for Europe, police chief says
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Howard-Taylor was stopped while attempting to leave the country at Roberts International Airport and taken to national police headquarters, according to the statement.
Howard-Taylor's lawyer, Kabineh M. Ja’neh, told Reuters that he had met with his client earlier on Wednesday and authorities informed him that they intended to charge her, though he had not seen the indictment.
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"We would be able to proceed with the matter once we get the formal charge."
