Liberia has charged former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences as part of an investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network, the government said on Wednesday.

Howard-Taylor was stopped while attempting to leave Liberia at Roberts International Airport and taken to the headquarters of the Liberia National Police, according to the Justice Ministry. She served as vice president under former President George Weah from 2018 to 2024.

The charges include the unlicensed importation, sale, distribution and transportation of controlled substances, drug trafficking, criminal solicitation, criminal facilitation, criminal conspiracy and money laundering, authorities said.

Her arrest comes less than a month after Liberian authorities announced the seizure of several tonnes of cocaine valued at about $317 million and believed to have been destined for Europe. The government has described the operation as the country's largest drug seizure. However, authorities have said the cocaine seizure and the case involving Howard-Taylor are not necessarily connected.

Howard-Taylor's lawyer, Kabineh M. Ja'neh, told Reuters that he had met with his client and had been informed that authorities intended to charge her, although he had not yet seen the formal indictment.

Three foreign nationals two Croatians and a Ukrainian have also been charged in absentia over their alleged involvement in the suspected narcotics network. Liberian authorities said they would seek their arrest through domestic and international channels.

The Liberian government has pledged that the investigation will be conducted without political protection, saying that anyone against whom credible evidence is established will face prosecution. The case comes as West Africa faces growing scrutiny over its role as a transit route for cocaine from South America to European markets.

Howard-Taylor, who was previously married to former Liberian President Charles Taylor, has not been found guilty of the charges. The investigation remains ongoing.