Liberia’s ex-veep to await drug trafficking trial in prison

Liberia’s former vice president, Jewel Howard-Taylor, was taken to prison on Tuesday to await trial on charges of drug trafficking and other offenses, following a court’s denial of her request for release on humanitarian grounds for medical treatment. According to local media reports, Howard-Taylor suffered an asthma attack and had high blood pressure while in police custody following her arrest on August 19 at Roberts International Airport.

She was arrested while attempting to leave Liberia. Along with three other foreign nationals charged in absentia, Howard-Taylor faces multiple charges, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offenses, as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. Her lawyers have rejected the allegations as politically motivated.

Liberian authorities recently seized and destroyed approximately 4.2 metric tons of cocaine, worth around $317 million, implicating some senior police officials in the trafficking operation. West Africa has become a significant transit route for cocaine from South America to Europe, taking advantage of porous borders and weak enforcement.