Gambiaj.com – (MONROVIA, Liberia) – Liberian authorities have charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offenses as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. Jewel Howard-Taylor was married to convicted warlord and former president Charles Taylor from 1997 to 2006 and was first lady of Liberia during his presidency.
In 2005, Jewel Taylor was elected to the Senate of Liberia for Bong County as a member of the National Patriotic Party. She was Chair of the Senate Health and Social Welfare Committee on Gender, Women, and Children.
The Justice Ministry announced the charges on Wednesday, saying Howard-Taylor was stopped while attempting to leave Liberia through Roberts International Airport and subsequently taken to the headquarters of the Liberia National Police.
Howard-Taylor, who served as Liberia’s vice president from 2018 to 2024, faces allegations including the unlicensed importation, sale, distribution, and transportation of controlled substances. She is also accused of criminal solicitation, facilitation, conspiracy, and money laundering.
The charges remain allegations and will be subject to the country’s judicial process.
Three foreigners charged in absentia
Liberian authorities have also charged three foreign nationals in absentia over their alleged involvement in the suspected narcotics network.
They were identified as Croatian nationals Nikolai Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac and Ukrainian national Tara Zaderieko.
The Justice Ministry said authorities would pursue efforts to locate and arrest the three suspects as the investigation continues.
The case forms part of a broader government campaign to dismantle international drug trafficking networks that authorities say are operating through Liberia.
Charges follow major cocaine seizures.
The investigation comes amid a series of major narcotics cases in Liberia this year.
In June, authorities intercepted approximately 237.6 kilograms of cocaine at Roberts International Airport, with an estimated street value of more than $19 million. A joint national security investigation was subsequently launched into the shipment and its possible links to organised criminal networks.
In July, Liberian authorities announced what they described as the country’s largest-ever cocaine seizure, involving almost four tons of cocaine valued at approximately $317 million. Several police officials were reportedly implicated in that investigation.
Authorities have stressed that the cocaine seizures and the case involving Howard-Taylor are separate investigations.
Liberia steps up drug enforcement.
Liberian drug enforcement authorities have intensified their operations against narcotics trafficking.
The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency said operations conducted during January and February resulted in 170 arrests and the seizure of more than 331 kilograms of assorted narcotics.
Authorities have also prosecuted former law enforcement officers accused of interfering with drug evidence, highlighting growing scrutiny of corruption and institutional weaknesses within the country’s drug enforcement system.
President Joseph Boakai has pledged to pursue individuals involved in illicit drug trafficking while stressing that investigations and prosecutions must be conducted in accordance with the rule of law.
West Africa remains a key trafficking route.
The investigation comes as West Africa continues to be used as a transit corridor for cocaine trafficked from South America towards lucrative European markets.
Drug trafficking networks have exploited the region’s strategic location, international transport connections, and weaknesses in enforcement to move narcotics across borders.
For Liberia, the case involving a former vice president brings renewed attention to the vulnerability of the country’s airports, ports, and state institutions to international criminal networks.
It also presents a major test for the Boakai administration’s campaign against organized drug trafficking and corruption, particularly as authorities seek to demonstrate that the country’s drug enforcement drive applies regardless of the political status of those implicated.
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