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Chad Joseph - Families of two missing Las Cuevas fishermen have formally reported them missing to police, months after they disappeared in April and were later suspected to be among two Trinidadians killed in a US military strike in the Caribbean in October.
According to a police report, a relative of Chad Joseph, 26, of Salvary Lane, St. Michael’s Village, Las Cuevas, filed the missing person’s report at the Maracas Bay Police Station on November 1. The report said that Joseph was last seen and heard from on the morning of April 25, when he said he was going fishing but never returned.
Police said while giving her statement, the relative became agitated and appeared to be messaging on her phone. Around 6 pm, she told the investigating officer she wanted to consult her attorney before continuing and declined to sign the partial statement. An hour later, attorney Keron Ramkhalawhan contacted police, advising that his client would not provide further statements.
The woman later returned to the station after 7 pm. and was given a citizen’s receipt. She told police she would speak with her lawyer before officers visit her home in Las Cuevas. A second report was made by Rishi Samaroo’s relatives, also at the Maracas Bay police station on November 2.
Joseph and Samaroo are believed by relatives to have been killed in a US-led strike on October 14 targeting narcotics traffickers in international waters.
Contacted on Sunday, Samaroo’s sister Sallycar Korasingh, who made the missing person report, urged the Prime Minister and the Government to “do something” to assist them in locating him.
Samaroo’s relative admitted that they, too, were not sure if he was one of the men on the boat, but said the family wanted some answers.
“Really and truly, I don't even know myself.”
Samaroo’s family previously attempted to make a similar report, but was allegedly told by police that the incident happened in international waters and there was nothing they could do to assist.
“Our lawyer told us to go and make your report, so in case of anything, they can notify us.
“We just want answers.”
Joseph’s family reportedly held a memorial service for him at St Michael’s RC Church, Las Cuevas, while Samaroo’s family held a Hindu memorial prayer service at their home at Bim Bim Trace in El Socorro.
At a post-Cabinet briefing on October 30, Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Sean Sobers said there was “no evidence to suggest that these persons were killed by a strike.”
Sobers confirmed that the strike took place outside Trinidad and Tobago’s national waters and that local authorities had received the coordinates from the US.
“These are strikes being conducted in international waters,” Sobers said. “If the strikes occurred within national waters, then the US would have to share information with Trinidad and Tobago.”
He added that he planned to contact the Minister of Homeland Security and the Commissioner of Police to assist Samaroo’s relatives after they said they encountered difficulty filing a report at the Barataria Police Station.
The minister also urged the public to avoid speculation. “At this juncture, all of that is conjecture,” Sobers said. “We have to wait for the police to conduct a proper and thorough investigation before any pronouncement can be made.” He also said local authorities had received coordinates of the US military strikes to verify if they took place outside of TT’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). He has not yet disclosed the coordinates publicly.
Three more were killed in another US military airstrike in the Caribbean Sea, US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth confirmed in an update on social media. In a post on November 1, Hegseth said, “Today, at the direction of President Trump, the Department of War carried out a lethal kinetic strike on another narco-trafficking vessel operated by a Designated Terrorist Organisation (DTO) in the Caribbean.
“This vessel—like EVERY OTHER—was known by our intelligence to be involved in illicit narcotics smuggling, was transiting along a known narco-trafficking route, and carrying narcotics.
“Three male narco-terrorists were aboard the vessel during the strike, which was conducted in international waters. All three terrorists were killed, and no US forces were harmed in this strike.
“These narco-terrorists are bringing drugs to our shores to poison Americans at home—and they will not succeed.
“The Department will treat them EXACTLY how we treated Al-Qaeda. We will continue to track them, map them, hunt them, and kill them.”
English (US) ·