MONROVIA – Former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor has been charged with cocaine trafficking, criminal conspiracy, and money laundering. She is the most senior figure yet accused in an expanding narcotics investigation that has already touched the police, the National Security Agency, and the prison service.
Authorities stopped Howard-Taylor from leaving the country at Roberts International Airport on Wednesday morning and escorted her to Liberia National Police headquarters. Hours later, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice announced the charges at the Ministry of Information, stating that the action followed standard investigative procedures and a thorough review of evidence provided by the Joint National Security Investigative Team.
Howard-Taylor faces a total of seven counts. Under the Controlled Drug and Substance Act of 2023, she is charged with the unlicensed importation of a controlled drug or substance (Section 14.83), the unlicensed sale, trading, administration, dispensation, delivery, distribution, dispatch in transit, and transportation of narcotics (Section 14.85), and illicit trafficking (Section 14.93). Under Chapter 10 of the Penal Law, she faces charges of criminal solicitation, criminal facilitation, and criminal conspiracy. Additionally, she is charged with money laundering under Section 15.2 of the Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law.
Inspector General of Police Gregory Coleman linked the former vice president to the Duazon seizure, a massive raid in July that uncovered 3,971 kilograms of cocaine from a warehouse in Margibi County. Valued by police at approximately US$317.68 million, it stands as the largest narcotics haul in Liberian history.
Three foreign nationals, identified by the ministry as key members and organizers of the network, have been charged in absentia: Croatian nationals Nikolai Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac, alongside Ukrainian national Tara Zaderieko. The Ministry of Justice confirmed it will utilize all domestic and international legal avenues to locate, apprehend, and bring the suspects before Liberian courts.
In a related development, Gerald Smith, the former deputy director of the National Security Agency for administration, has been called in for questioning regarding the same network.
Framing the charges as a defining moment for the nation, the Minister of Justice declared that no office is too high, no political connection too powerful, no nationality immune, and no individual beyond the reach of the law. He emphasized that the government’s ultimate goal extends beyond seizing drugs or arresting low-level operatives; it aims to dismantle the syndicate’s leadership, financing, logistics, protection arrangements, and international ties. The minister assured the public that evidence would be pursued across institutions and borders without selective justice, political protection, or sacred cows, and that anyone tied to credible evidence will be prosecuted without fear or favor.
The Ministry of Justice stressed that charges remain accusations rather than judgments of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction and retain full constitutional rights to legal representation. Citing the sensitive and multi-jurisdictional nature of the ongoing investigation, officials noted that certain operational details would remain confidential to protect witnesses and judicial integrity, urging the public and political actors to avoid speculation or circulating unverified claims.
This high-profile case escalates a broader probe that began on June 7, when security forces intercepted 237.6 kilograms of cocaine valued at US$19.2 million hidden in London-bound cargo at Roberts International Airport. That initial discovery led to charges against a Monrovia entertainment executive and a logistics manager, the detention and questioning of four senior police and intelligence officers, the arrest of a Monrovia Central Prison operations officer, and the removal of a deputy commissioner of police, before the July warehouse raid expanded the investigation’s scope exponentially.
Howard-Taylor served as Vice President of Liberia from 2018 to 2024 during the administration of President George Weah, having previously represented Bong County in the Senate. She is also the former wife of former President Charles Taylor.