Liberia Charges Former Vice President with Drug Trafficking and Other Offenses
The case follows Liberia’s largest-ever drug seizure, worth about $336 million, and includes charges against three foreigners in absentia, officials said.
- On Wednesday, the Justice Ministry charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking and money laundering as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. Authorities detained her at Roberts International Airport while attempting to leave Liberia.
- In recent years, West Africa has emerged as a key transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, with smugglers exploiting porous borders and weak enforcement in the region. This context frames Howard-Taylor's alleged involvement.
- Howard-Taylor faces charges including unlicensed importation, sale, distribution of controlled substances, drug trafficking, and money laundering. She was formerly married to Liberian President Charles Taylor, convicted by an international war crimes court for sponsoring atrocities in Sierra Leone.
- Authorities also charged three foreigners in absentia for alleged roles in the network: Croatians Nikolai Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac, and Ukrainian Tara Zaderieko. Officials stated they would pursue measures to locate and apprehend the suspects through domestic and international legal channels.
- These charges follow last month's announcement of Liberia's largest-ever drug seizure of cocaine worth about $336 million, which authorities said implicated senior police officials. Authorities clarified the two cases are not connected despite police involvement in both matters.
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Associated Press News
Liberia charges former vice president with drug trafficking and other offenses
Liberia has 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.
The Straits Times
The PrintLiberia's former vice president charged in investigation of transnational drug ring, government says
MONROVIA, Aug 19 - Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, the West African nation's attorney general said in a statement on Wednesday. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Liberia’s former vice president charged in transnational narcotics investigation, government says
MONROVIA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Jewel Howard-Taylor, the former vice president of Liberia and ex-wife of convicted war criminal Charles Taylor, has been arrested and charged as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, a ...
Liberia's former vice president charged in probe of transnational drug ring, government says
MONROVIA, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, the West African nation's attorney general said in a statement on Wednesday.
Liberia: Ex-VP Jewel Howard-Taylor Becomes Person of Interest in Cocaine Probe
Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has been invited by investigators of the Liberian National Police to answer questions in connection with an ongoing cocaine investigation, police spokesperson Sam Collins has confirmed.
Liberia has accused former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor of smuggling drugs, money laundering and other crimes, as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational drug trafficking network, the Ministry of Justice reported on Wednesday.
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