MONROVIA, Aug. 19 -- Former Vice President Jewel Howard Taylor has been taken into custody as a person of interest in connection with Liberia's US$19 million cocaine investigation, Information Minister Jerolinmek M. Piah has confirmed.

By Gerald C. Koinyeneh

Minister Piah disclosed the development Wednesday on State Radio, saying the former vice president was picked up while preparing to board an ASKY Airlines flight.

Taylor, however, has offered a different account of the incident, saying she was scheduled to travel to Accra, Ghana, to attend a women's forum when she was informed that she had been barred from leaving the country.

Sources close to Taylor said she was asked to report to the Police Station.

Her reported detention marks...