Families of two men killed in ship attack in Caribbean sue US government

Washington — The families of two Trinidad men who were killed in a U.S. missile attack on a ship in the Caribbean in October sued the Trump administration in federal court, arguing that “premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification.”

Chad Joseph and Rishi Samaroo were among six passengers who died when the ship they were traveling on was destroyed by a U.S. missile on Oct. 14, 2025, according to a 23-page complaint filed Tuesday in Massachusetts District Court. Joseph’s mother and Samaroo’s sister filed the lawsuit on behalf of their families, naming the United States as a defendant.

The October attack was part of the Trump administration’s campaign against suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, primarily against ships originating from Venezuela. The administration has carried out at least 35 strikes since September, most recently last week. The attacks have killed more than 100 people.

President Trump posted footage of the Oct. 14 attack to Truth Social at the time, writing that intelligence showed the ship was “trafficking narcotics, associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and transiting a known route.” [designated terrorist organization] route.” He said that “six male narcoterrorists” were killed.

The lawsuit said Joseph and Samaroo lived in Trinidad and Tobago and had traveled to Venezuela to fish and work on farms. They were returning to their homes in Trinidad and Tobago on the crashed boat, according to the complaint.

Joseph was 26 years old, with a wife and three children in Trinidad and Tobago, according to the lawsuit. The complaint says he called his wife two days before his death and told her he had found transportation home. His family never heard from him again, according to the complaint.

Samaroo was 41 years old and had been incarcerated from 2009 to 2024 “for his role in a homicide,” according to the lawsuit. In August 2025 he called his sister and told her that he was in Venezuela working on a farm. Two days before the boat strike, he told his family that he would be taken home and that he would return to Trinidad in a couple of days, according to the lawsuit. That was the last time they heard from him.

The lawsuit says that “Mr. Joseph and Mr. Samaroo were not members of or affiliated with the drug cartels.” The administration has justified the campaign by claiming that the attacks target cartel ships that traffic drugs.

“The government of Trinidad has publicly stated that it ‘has no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities’ and that it had ‘no information that the victims of the US attacks were in possession of illegal drugs, firearms or small arms,'” according to the complaint.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for the two men’s families under two federal laws known as the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Torts Statute. The families are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

The lawsuit is at least the second legal action taken by families of people who died in attacks on Trump administration ships. In December, the relatives of Alejandro Carranza Medina, 42, filed a complaint against the United States before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, saying that Medina was not involved in drug trafficking and had been fishing when his boat was destroyed.