Published: October 9, 2026
MONROVIA — Gerald Folley Smith, a former deputy director of the National Security Agency, and four other defendants in the cocaine trafficking case that includes former Vice President Jewel Howard-Taylor have been arrested and jailed at the Monrovia Central Prison on Wednesday.
By Melvin Jackson
Christian L. Nyantee, Jammel V. Jallah, Cayce L. Nelson, and Albenigo Janior were also taken into custody under a writ of arrest issued Wednesday by Criminal Court ‘C’. Assigned Circuit Judge Ousman F. Feika issued the writ. It directs Montserrado County Sheriff Maj. Austine Seinavula or his deputy to bring the defendants before the court “to answer to the said charges.” The sheriff must also file an official return detailing how the writ was served.
“The Office reiterates, unequivocally, Madam Jewel Howard-Taylor’s position that she is innocent of the allegations against her. She remains confident that the judicial process will ultimately establish the facts and looks forward to her Defense Team presenting her case through the proper legal channels,” Howard-Taylor’s office said in a statement Wednesday.
The statement also called for respect for her constitutional rights and for due process.
A special grand jury for Montserrado County returned a 55-page indictment against 18 named defendants. It also names two men identified only as Sekou and Nana, and “others to be identified.” The case stems from the July 21, 2026, seizure of 3,971 plates of cocaine in 157 bags from a compound on Cement Road in the VOA Community, off the Robertsfield Highway. Police arrested two foreign nationals at the compound: Srdan Seles, described in the indictment as Serbian, and Johann David Garces Grajales, described as Colombian-Spanish. Prosecutors value the seized cocaine at about US$317 million.
The indictment contains 11 counts: criminal conspiracy; unlicensed importation, exportation, and possession of controlled drugs; unlicensed sale, dispatch in transit, and transportation of controlled drugs; illicit trafficking; unlawful maintenance of a place for drugs; criminal facilitation; criminal solicitation; money laundering; and possession of a physical object for lethal use. Not all defendants are named in every count. The weapons count, relating to a Taurus pistol, is brought only against Seles and Garces Grajales.
The indictment accuses Smith of agreeing to protect the network. According to the indictment, he served as deputy director for administration at the National Security Agency from 2018 to January 2024. It says co-defendant Sheik Bashiru Kante introduced him to two of the network’s foreign operatives at the Royal Grand Hotel in Sinkor. After that meeting, the indictment says, Smith assigned NSA agents to escort cocaine shipments on several occasions. In one passage, the indictment says Smith received more than US$80,000 from the network. In another, it says he received compensation “worth millions of US Dollars.”
The indictment describes Nyantee as an NSA deputy airport commander at Spriggs Payne Airport and Jallah as a former chief of armory at the NSA. It describes Janior as an NSA officer and Nelson as a former employee of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection.
It accuses Jallah of giving Nyantee US$10,000 to pay two police officers who escorted a May 30 convoy of cocaine from Royesville to Cement Road. Nyantee, it says, gave US$5,000 each to Anthony T. Blaye, described as chief of the Liberia National Police Financial Crime Division, and Wadell W. Kwarbo, described as chief of its Highway Patrol Section. It says Nyantee also gave Janior US$2,000 on Jallah’s instruction. The indictment alleges that Nelson was recruited to manage an aviation business the network set up as cover, and that she recruited an airport official to assist it.
The indictment names Nikola Ivancic, whom it alleges directed the network from Dubai, as its leader. It accuses Howard-Taylor of agreeing in 2021, while she was vice president, to provide “protection at a high governmental level” for cocaine moving through Liberia to Europe. It says she received cash, gifts, and a donation to her charity in return. Howard-Taylor is named in seven of the 11 counts, including illicit trafficking and money laundering. She served as vice president from 2018 to 2024.
The indictment’s caption assigns the case to Criminal Assizes ‘A’ and Resident Circuit Judge Roosevelt Z. Willie, and the clerk of that court filed it. The writ was issued by Criminal Court ‘C’. It was not immediately clear which court would try the case.
Discussion about this post