Liberia Charges Ex-VP Jewel Howard-Taylor in Drug Case, Names 3 Foreign Suspects
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 20
Liberia Charges Ex-VP Jewel Howard-Taylor in Drug Case, Names 3 Foreign Suspects
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 20
Summary
Liberia charged former Vice-President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and related offences after detaining her at Monrovia's Roberts International Airport before a flight.
Prosecutors accuse Howard-Taylor, who served from 2018 to 2024, of illegally importing, selling and transporting controlled drugs and helping facilitate a trafficking network.
Police also charged 3 foreign nationals in absentia—2 Croatians and 1 Ukrainian—alleging they were part of the same network tied to the former politician.
The case extends Liberia's wider anti-narcotics push under President Joseph Boakai, who took office after George Weah's administration and pledged to curb corruption and block traffickers from establishing bases in the country.
West Africa has become a key cocaine transit corridor from South America to Europe, putting countries such as Liberia under growing pressure to disrupt transnational smuggling routes.