Former Liberian vice president Jewel Howard-Taylor was today placed in prison ahead of her trial for alleged involvement in an international drvg trafficking network
The network has been linked to the largest narcotics bust in the country’s history.
Howard-Taylor, who is also the ex-wife of former rebel leader Charles Taylor, president from 1997 to 2003, was charged last Wednesday.
She was placed in pre-trial detention Tuesday, as is standard procedure for such charges, at the capital’s Monrovia Central Prison, following an initial court appearance over eight counts earlier in the day.
The charges against Howard-Taylor come amid a government crackdown on drvg trafficking, following several major cocaine busts in recent months.
That includes the seizure of four tonnes of cocaine valued at $317 million in July, to which Howard-Taylor has been linked.
Howard-Taylor served as vice president from 2018 to 2024 under president George Weah. She also served as an influential senator from 2006 to 2018.
Last week, the minister of justice reported that she had been arrested at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia.
Howard-Taylor was “formally charged in connection with an ongoing investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics trafficking network operating within and beyond the republic of Liberia”, the statement said.
The charges include unlicensed importation; unlicensed sale, trading and administration; and illicit trafficking of drvgs, according to the statement.
Three other individuals — two Croatians and a Ukrainian — were also charged in the same case in absentia, according to the minister’s statement.
Howard-Taylor’s lawyers had asked that she not be detained while awaiting trial, as she suffers from asthma. However the court denied the request, stating only the attorney general can grant compassionate leave.
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