Former Liberian Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor, who was jailed ahead of her trial over alleged involvement in an international drug-trafficking network, has been released and placed under house arrest, a lawyer told AFP on Saturday.

Howard-Taylor, 63, was charged on August 19 with drug trafficking, money laundering and other offences. She was placed in pre-trial detention on August 25 after a court denied her request for release on humanitarian grounds.

Her arrest occurred during a government crackdown on drug trafficking following several significant cocaine busts in recent months. 

A human rights lawyer stated that she was released "on compassionate grounds." Earlier, her aides posted on Facebook that she had been released to house arrest.

Under the conditions of her release, she must surrender all travel documents and remain at her residence, with restrictions on her movements and visitors.

Howard-Taylor served as vice president from 2018 to 2024 under President George Weah and was a senator from 2006 to 2018. She is a member of the opposition Coalition for Democratic Change, or CDC.

West Africa has emerged as a major transit route for cocaine trafficked from South America to Europe, according to international monitoring and law-enforcement agencies.

Howard-Taylor's ex-husband is currently serving a 50-year sentence for war crimes in a British prison. His conviction was for funding rebel groups in Sierra Leone, rather than for other charges he faces at home, such as recruiting child soldiers, killings, rape, and pillaging.