The 63-year-old former government official was detained on Wednesday at Roberts International Airport in Monrovia while preparing to board a flight, according to the country’s Ministry of Justice.
Police Inspector General Gregory Coleman linked the former vice-president to the seizure of cocaine valued at about $317 million during a major anti-drug operation last month.
The former vice-president has not publicly commented on the accusations. Her lawyer also declined to comment, saying he would respond after she is formally charged in court.
The charges include the unlawful importation, sale and transportation of controlled substances, drug trafficking, criminal solicitation and criminal facilitation.
Three foreign nationals — two Croatians and a Ukrainian — have also been charged in absentia over their alleged involvement in the same trafficking network.
Justice Minister Oswald Tweh said the authorities would use both local and international measures to locate and arrest the suspects.
Liberia has intensified its campaign against cocaine trafficking following major seizures in June and July.
Nearly four tonnes of cocaine believed to have been destined for Europe were recovered during the July operation, which officials described as the country’s largest-ever drug seizure.
Investigators said the operation exposed a sophisticated international trafficking network and subsequently expanded their probe to include senior figures within Liberia’s security establishment.
Authorities said the investigation is focused on identifying not only those involved in transporting the drugs, but also financiers, organisers and individuals accused of facilitating or protecting the operation.
The former vice-president entered politics after her former husband, Charles Taylor, left office. Taylor served as Liberia’s president from 1997 to 2003 and was later convicted by a UN-backed tribunal for aiding and abetting rebels during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
She later became the running mate of former President George Weah and served as vice-president from 2018 until 2024.
Liberia’s intensified crackdown comes as West Africa remains a major transit route for cocaine shipments from South America to Europe, with criminal networks exploiting porous borders and weaknesses in law enforcement across parts of the region.
