Liberia has charged ​former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor with drug trafficking, money laundering ‌and other offences as part of an investigation of a transnational narcotics network, the West African nation's attorney general said in a statement on Wednesday.

The arrest of Howard-Taylor, ex-wife of ​convicted war criminal Charles Taylor, comes less than a month after ​Liberian authorities announced that they had seized around $317 million worth of ⁠cocaine that was bound for Europe, highlighting the country's growing role in the global ​drug trade.

"There will be no selective justice, political protection, sacred cows or compromise ​with organized criminality," the statement said. "Every person against whom credible and admissible evidence is established will be investigated and prosecuted without fear, favor or political consideration."

Howard-Taylor was stopped while ​attempting to leave the country at Roberts International Airport and taken to national ​police headquarters, according to the statement.

Other charges

The charges against her also include unlicensed importation of a ‌controlled ⁠substance, criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy, the statement said.

Howard-Taylor's lawyer, Kabineh M. Ja’neh, told Reuters that he had met with his client earlier on Wednesday and authorities informed him that they intended to charge her, though he had ​not seen the indictment.

"She ​is in the ⁠custody of the Liberia National Police tonight. She will sleep there," he said.

"We would be able to proceed with ​the matter once we get the formal charge."

Authorities have also ​charged in ⁠absentia three alleged members of the network — two Croatian nationals and a Ukrainian national — and the statement said that the government would seek their arrest through ⁠domestic and ​international legal channels.

Howard-Taylor served as vice ​president under former President George Weah from January 2018 to January 2024.