Archive · 20 Aug 2026
Liberia Charges Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor in Drug Case
Jewel Howard-Taylor is a former vice president of Liberia.
She served in that job from 2018 to 2024 under President George Weah.
Liberian authorities have charged her with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses.
They say she was involved in importing, selling or transporting illegal drugs.
Police detained her at an airport while she was reportedly preparing to leave the country.
Three foreign people were also accused of being part of the same alleged network.
The authorities say they want to investigate everyone involved, including organizers and people who provide money.
These are accusations, and the case is part of Liberia’s larger effort to stop cocaine trafficking.
Liberia charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses.
Authorities detained Howard-Taylor at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia as she was reportedly preparing to leave.
She is accused of illegally importing, selling and transporting controlled drugs and facilitating trafficking.
Three foreign nationals—two Croatians and one Ukrainian—were charged in absentia over alleged links to the same network.
The case forms part of Liberia’s broader crackdown on transnational cocaine trafficking networks.
- Who
- Former Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and three foreign nationals: two Croatians and one Ukrainian.
- What
- Howard-Taylor was charged with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses, including allegedly importing, selling and transporting controlled drugs.
- When
- The charges were reported after Howard-Taylor’s vice-presidential term, which lasted from 2018 to 2024.
- Where
- Howard-Taylor was detained at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia, Liberia, and later taken to national police headquarters.
- Why
- Liberian authorities are investigating alleged involvement in a transnational drug-trafficking network as part of a wider anti-drug crackdown.
- Accused
- Jewel Howard-Taylor, Liberia’s former vice president
- Charges
- Drug trafficking, money laundering and several other offenses
- Specific allegations
- Illegal importation, sale and transportation of controlled drugs, plus facilitating drug trafficking
- Detention location
- Roberts International Airport in Monrovia
- Additional suspects
- Two Croatians and one Ukrainian were charged in absentia
- Former position
- Vice president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024
- Wider investigation
- Liberia is targeting alleged organizers, facilitators and financiers of transnational drug networks