investigation into an alleged transnational narcotics network. She was detained on Wednesday before being able to board a flight at Roberts International Airport in the capital, Monrovia, the country's justice ministry confirmed. Police chief Gregory Coleman has linked her to the seizure last month of cocaine valued at $317m (£233m). The 63-year-old politician has yet to make any public comment about the allegations. Her lawyer told the BBC he could not comment until Howard-Taylor was formally charged in court. Howard-Taylor went into politics after her now ex-husband, former President Charles Taylor, left power. He was a former rebel leader who was elected Liberia's president in 1997, remaining in office until 2003. Charles Taylor was later arrested and convicted by a UN-back court of aiding and abetting rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 civil war, in which some 50,000 people died. Several years later, George Weah picked Howard-Taylor as his running mate and she served as his deputy during his presidency from 2018 until 2024. (BBC)