Families Seek Justice After US Airstrike Off Venezuela

Tue Feb 03 2026 14:23:38 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Relatives of two men killed in a controversial US strike on an alleged drug boat off the coast of Venezuela have filed a lawsuit against the US government, claiming wrongful death.

The families of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, who died in a US military strike on October 14, are challenging the legality of the action. The lawsuit contends that the men were not involved in illegal activities at the time of the attack. This incident has raised questions about US military operations in the Caribbean targeting drug traffickers. The Pentagon has not commented on the lawsuit, as legal experts debate the adherence of these operations to international law.

The families of two Trinidadian men killed in a US strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat have filed a lawsuit against the American government.

Lawyers filed the claim in Boston's federal court on behalf of relatives of Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo, among six men killed off the coast of Venezuela on 14 October.

One of the lawyers stated that the strike amounted to lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theatre.

The US has struck at least 36 vessels in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific since September, resulting in over 120 deaths. The Trump administration has indicated such operations target narco-terrorists responsible for drugs harming Americans.

Despite the US characterizing its operations as a non-international armed conflict, legal experts assert potential violations of laws governing such conflicts.

This lawsuit, filed under the Death on the High Seas Act, allows family members to sue for wrongful deaths at sea, enabling foreign citizens to pursue cases in US courts for international law violations.

The case was initiated by Joseph's mother and Samaroo's sister, who state their relatives, engaged in fishing and farming, were returning to Trinidad and Tobago when the strike occurred. Joseph's mother expressed, if the US believed her son was guilty of wrongdoing, he should have been arrested rather than murdered.

The lawsuit argues the deaths constitute wrongful deaths, as the men were not participating in military hostilities against the US. The Pentagon has yet to respond to the lawsuit, while similar cases have emerged, including one involving a Colombian man killed in a separate strike.