Families of 2 men killed in Caribbean boat strike sue U.S. government

Washington — The families of two Trinidadian men who were killed in a U.S. missile strike on a boat in the Caribbean in October sued the Trump administration in federal court, arguing the "premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification."

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

The October strike was part of the Trump administration's campaign against alleged drug-trafficking boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, mostly targeting boats coming 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 strike on Truth Social at the time, writing that intelligence showed the boat "was trafficking narcotics, was associated with illicit narcoterrorist networks, and was transiting along a known [designated terrorist organization] route." He said "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 boat that was struck, according to the complaint.

Joseph was 26 years old and had a wife and three children in Trinidad and Tobago, the lawsuit said. The complaint said he called his wife two days before his death and said he had found transport back home. His family never heard from him again, the complaint said.

Samaroo was 41 years old and had been imprisoned from 2009 to 2024 "for his participation in a homicide," the suit said. In August 2025, he called his sister and told her he was in Venezuela working on a farm. Two days before the boat strike, he told his family that he would be catching a ride home and would be back in 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, drug cartels." The administration has justified the campaign by stating that the strikes are targeting drug-running cartel boats. 

"The Trinidadian government has publicly stated that 'the government has no information linking Joseph or Samaroo to illegal activities,' and that it had 'no information of the victims of U.S. strikes being in possession of illegal drugs, guns, or small arms,'" according to the complaint.

The lawsuit is seeking compensation for the two men's families under two federal laws known as the Death on the High Seas Act and the Alien Tort 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 the family of those killed in the Trump administration's boat strikes. In December, the relatives of 42-year-old Alejandro Carranza Medina filed a complaint against the U.S. with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, saying Medina was not involved in drug trafficking and had been fishing when his boat was destroyed.