RESOLVING THE LEDGER
This is one outlet's own report from The Independent — the article as it was filed. Other outlets are covering the same event; open the full story to compare every source side by side.
See the full story · 2 sources
Bookmark Bookmark popover Removed from bookmarks
Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offenses as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday.
Howard-Taylor, who was vice president from 2018 to 2024, was stopped while attempting to leave Liberia at Roberts International Airport and taken to Liberia National Police headquarters, the ministry said in a statement.
She faces charges including unlicensed importation, sale, distribution and transportation of controlled substances, drug trafficking, criminal solicitation, criminal facilitation, criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
Howard-Taylor was married to former Liberian President Charles Taylor , who was convicted by an international war crimes court for sponsoring atrocities in Sierra Leone .
The government also charged three foreigners in absentia for their alleged roles in the network: Croatians Nikolai Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac and Ukrainian Tara Zaderieko.
Authorities said they would pursue measures to locate and apprehend them.
The charges follow last month’s announcement of Liberia’s largest-ever drug seizure — tons of cocaine worth about $336 million, which authorities said implicated senior police officials. Both cases were not connected.
In recent years, West Africa has emerged as a key transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, with smugglers taking advantage of porous borders and weak enforcement in parts of the region.
AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
AIPROPX is an independent multi-source news index — we track, compare, and connect coverage from across the web into one place you won't find anywhere else.