MONROVIA, LIBERIA — Former Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor is currently detained at the Liberia National Police (LNP) Headquarters in Monrovia after she was reportedly picked up by state security authorities at the Roberts International Airport (RIA) while en route to attend a women’s conference.
Her detention comes as authorities widen their investigation into the massive US$317 million cocaine case.
According to information released following investigative procedures by the Joint National Security Investigative Team, the former Vice President has been charged with multiple offenses under Liberia’s Controlled Drug and Substance Act of 2023, Penal Law, and Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Law.
The charges include unlicensed importation of a controlled drug or substance; unlicensed sale, trading, delivery, distribution, transportation and dispatch in transit of a controlled substance; illicit trafficking; criminal solicitation; criminal facilitation; criminal conspiracy; and money laundering.
The charges are allegations, and Howard-Taylor is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of competent jurisdiction.
Authorities have also announced charges in absentia against Nikolai Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac, both Croatian nationals, and Tara Zaderieko, a Ukrainian national, whom the government alleges are members or organizers of the same transnational narcotics network.
The Ministry of Justice says it will pursue lawful domestic and international measures to locate and apprehend the three defendants.
Meanwhile, Gerald Smith, former Deputy Director of the National Security Agency for Administration, has been called in for questioning in connection with the investigation.
Howard-Taylor’s detention at LNP Headquarters marks a dramatic escalation in one of Liberia’s biggest narcotics investigations, with the case now reaching one of the country’s most prominent former government officials.
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