Former Liberia VP placed in prison ahead of drug trial

Former Liberian vice president Jewel Howard-Taylor was placed in prison Tuesday ahead of her trial for alleged involvement in an international drug trafficking network linked to the largest narcotics bust in the country's history.

Howard-Taylor, who is also the ex-wife of former rebel leader Charles Taylor, president from 1997 to 2003, was charged last Wednesday.

She was placed in pre-trial detention Tuesday, as is standard procedure for such charges, at the capital's Monrovia Central Prison, following an initial court appearance over eight counts earlier in the day.

The charges against Howard-Taylor come amid a government crackdown on drug trafficking, following several major cocaine busts in recent months.

That includes the seizure of four tonnes of cocaine valued at $317 million in July, to which Howard-Taylor has been linked.

Howard-Taylor served as vice president from 2018 to 2024 under president George Weah. She also served as an influential senator from 2006 to 2018.

Last week, the minister of justice reported that she had been arrested at Roberts International Airport near Monrovia.

Howard-Taylor was "formally charged in connection with an ongoing investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics trafficking network operating within and beyond the republic of Liberia", the statement said.

The charges include unlicensed importation; unlicensed sale, trading and administration; and illicit trafficking of drugs, according to the statement.

Three other individuals -- two Croatians and a Ukrainian -- were also charged in the same case in absentia, according to the minister's statement.

Howard-Taylor's lawyers had asked that she not be detained while awaiting trial, as she suffers from asthma. However the court denied the request, stating only the attorney general can grant compassionate leave.

Accusations of the complicity of government and police officials have dogged recent drug cases.

The Alternative National Congress (ANC) opposition party called Tuesday for the current administration, led by President Joseph Boakai and his Unity Party (UP), to cast a wider net and not only snare opposition figures.

The ANC said it was "deeply concerned by the perception that the government is eager to target individuals associated with the former Congress for Democratic Change (CDC)", the party to which Howard-Taylor belongs.

Meanwhile, it said that "questions surrounding the involvement of individuals connected to the current Unity Party (UP) administration remain unanswered".

Boakai launched an investigation and pledged to "expose and destroy" the country's drug networks in June after 237.6 kilogrammes (524 pounds) of cocaine were seized at the airport.

The drugs had been presented as ordinary commercial cargo, including Maggi seasoning cubes.

West Africa is a transit point for cocaine produced in Latin America and shipped to consumer countries in Europe, according to monitors.

Howard-Taylor's warlord ex-husband is currently serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes in a British jail.

His conviction was however for funding rebel groups in Sierra Leone, not the recruitment of child soldiers, killings, rape and pillaging of which he is accused at home.