MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — Jewel Howard-Taylor, Liberia’s former vice president, was ordered to prison on Tuesday to await trial on charges of drug trafficking, money laundering, and other offenses. A court in the West African nation denied her lawyers' request for her to remain at a local hospital for medical treatment, citing a health emergency. 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 as she attempted to leave the country.
She is charged alongside three other foreign nationals who are facing charges in absentia as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. Howard-Taylor, who served as vice president from 2018 to 2024, has had her lawyers reject the allegations as politically motivated. However, investigators stated that their case is supported by travel records, audio recordings, witness testimonies, and evidence of her alleged association with members of the network.
Last month, Liberian authorities seized and burned approximately 4.2 metric tons of cocaine, with an estimated street value of $317 million. The operation also implicated some senior police officials and has been linked to Howard-Taylor.
West Africa has increasingly become a transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, with smugglers exploiting porous borders and weak enforcement in the region.