A Liberian court has ordered the arrest of former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, ex-wife of convicted warlord and former President Charles Taylor, along with former security officials, police officers and several European nationals. The order follows a grand jury indictment on drug trafficking and money laundering charges, one of the highest-profile criminal cases in the West African country’s recent history. Howard-Taylor has denied the allegations.
MONROVIA – A Liberian court on Wednesday ordered the arrest of former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor and more than 20 others in a sweeping drug trafficking and money laundering case that also names former security officials, senior police officers and nationals of Croatia and Ukraine.
Judge Ousman F. Feika of Criminal Court “C” in the capital, Monrovia, issued an arrest warrant directing the county sheriff to take the defendants into custody and bring them before the court. The warrant follows an indictment returned by a grand jury in Montserrado County, which includes Monrovia.
The defendants face charges including illicit drug trafficking; unlicensed importation, exportation, sale and transportation of controlled substances; criminal conspiracy, facilitation and solicitation; money laundering; and offenses involving objects allegedly intended for lethal use.
Former Officials Named
Besides Howard-Taylor, the defendants include Gerald Foley Smith, a former deputy director of Liberia’s National Security Agency, and Mark Quiah, a former deputy director of operations at the Liberia Civil Aviation Authority. Two senior police officers, Deputy Commissioner Anthony T. Blaye and Assistant Commissioner Wadell W. Kwarbo, are also named.
Foreign defendants include Croatian nationals Nikola Ivancic and Mihovil Vrovac and Ukrainian national Taras Zadereiko. Others named include Srdan Seles, Johnn David Garces and Sheik Bashiru Kante. The warrant lists further individuals known only by first names or aliases and says others have yet to be identified.
The warrant does not set out the specific conduct attributed to each defendant, nor does it say whether any alleged offenses took place outside Liberia.
Arrested at the Airport
The case dates to August, when Howard-Taylor was stopped while attempting to leave Liberia at Roberts International Airport and taken to Liberia National Police headquarters, according to the Justice Ministry. The government also charged three foreigners in absentia for their alleged roles in the network: Ivancic, Vrovac and Zadereiko.
Howard-Taylor has denied the central allegation. “I don’t know them,” she told FrontPageAfrica, referring to the three foreign nationals.
A Political Heavyweight
Howard-Taylor, 63, served as vice president from 2018 to 2024 under former President George Weah, the ex-football star. She entered politics after her former husband, ex-President Charles Taylor, left office in 2003. Charles Taylor was later convicted by an international war crimes court for sponsoring atrocities in neighboring Sierra Leone, and is serving a 50-year sentence in Britain.
The case is widely seen as a test of President Joseph Boakai’s pledge that no office is too high for the law to reach.
Wider Crackdown
The indictment comes amid an intensified government push against international drug networks using Liberia as a transit point. In July, Liberia announced what it described as its largest-ever cocaine seizure — almost four tonnes, with an estimated value of about $317 million. Officials have stressed that the seizure and the case involving Howard-Taylor are separate investigations.
West Africa has long served as a transit route for South American cocaine bound for Europe, and authorities said the July seizure was believed to be headed there.
Next Steps
An indictment is a formal accusation, not a finding of guilt, and all defendants are presumed innocent. Once the warrant is served, the defendants are expected to appear before the court, where bail applications and the prosecution’s presentation of evidence will shape the next phase of the case.
Prosecutors will be required to prove each defendant’s individual responsibility through admissible evidence under Liberian law.
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