Former Liberia VP faces drug trafficking charges

Former vice-president Jewel Howard-Taylor has been charged with drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offences as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network in Liberia, the Justice Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Howard-Taylor, 63, who served as vice-president from 2018 to 2024 under President George Weah, was arrested on August 19 at Roberts International Airport while attempting to board a flight to Accra, Ghana. She was formally charged after hours of questioning at the Liberia National Police headquarters.

President Joseph Nyuma Boakai said on Wednesday that Howard-Taylor would be treated with due process. “She is presumed innocent, has access to legal counsel, and is entitled to due process, which will be upheld,” he said.

The charges include unlicensed importation, sale, and transportation of controlled drugs, illicit trafficking, criminal conspiracy, criminal solicitation, and money laundering. Prosecutors allege that Howard-Taylor received $45,000 during a meeting in Dubai in 2022 and a further $75,000 for her Jewel Star Fish Foundation, totalling $135,000 in payments from members of an international drug network.

Police Chief Gregory Coleman has linked her to the seizure of cocaine valued at $317 million. In July, Liberian authorities seized and burned around 4.2 metric tons of cocaine, one of the country’s largest drug busts.

Howard-Taylor, the former wife of ex-president Charles Taylor, has denied the allegations. Her lawyers have described the case as politically motivated and without merit.

She was denied bail and remanded in custody at Monrovia Central Prison to await trial. Three foreign nationals have also been charged in absentia in connection with the case.

SOURCE: AP