Jewel Howard-Taylor detained before Liberia drug trial

Former Liberian vice president Jewel Howard-Taylor was placed in pre-trial detention at Monrovia Central Prison on Tuesday after an initial court appearance in a drug-trafficking case.

Howard-Taylor was charged last Wednesday over alleged involvement in an international narcotics trafficking network linked to a July seizure of four tonnes of cocaine valued at $317 million. The case is tied to what was described as the largest narcotics bust in Liberia's history.

Liberia's justice minister said last week that Howard-Taylor had been arrested at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia and formally charged as part of an ongoing investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. The charges include unlicensed importation, unlicensed sale, trading and administration, and illicit trafficking of drugs.

Three other people, two Croatians and a Ukrainian, were also charged in the same case in absentia, according to the minister's statement.

Howard-Taylor's lawyers asked that she not be detained while awaiting trial, saying she has asthma. The court denied the request, saying only the attorney general can grant compassionate leave.

Howard-Taylor served as vice president from 2018 to 2024 under President George Weah and was a senator from 2006 to 2018. President Joseph Boakai launched an investigation in June after 237.6 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized at the airport and pledged to expose and destroy Liberia's drug networks.

The opposition Alternative National Congress said Tuesday it was concerned by the perception that the government was targeting figures linked to the former ruling Congress for Democratic Change, Howard-Taylor's party, while questions about people connected to the current administration remained unanswered.