During the morning of October 14th, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that American forces carried out a “lethal kinetic strike” on a vessel allegedly trafficking narcotics and linked to a Designated Terrorist Organisation involved in drug-trafficking. The post included a short video showing an explosion at sea and claimed that six men described as “narco-terrorists” were killed. President Trump reported that the strike reportedly occurred in international waters “just” off the coast of Venezuela within U.S. Southern Command’s (USSOUTHCOM) area of responsibility. No U.S. personnel were reported injured.

Outlets such as DW Español, VPITV, PanAm Post, Canal 26 Noticias, and Reuters relayed the announcement and pointed out that in the video published by the U.S president, a small boat can be seen in low-light conditions and the vessel appears stationary, with no visible wake, movement, or engine light, suggesting it may not have been underway at the time of impact. Venezuelan and Colombian media emphasized the growing regional tension. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro condemned the strike as a violation of human rights and warned that the operation could mark a dangerous escalation.

Two days later, Trinidad and Tobago’s Guardian Media Group and CNC3 TV identified two of the six fatalities as nationals of Trinidad and Tobago: Chad “Charpo” Joseph (26) from the village of Las Cuervas and Rishi Samaroo (41) from Celestine Trace, Maraval, both reportedly fishermen and neighbors. No survivors have yet been reported from the vessel.

In video interviews, family members, including Joseph’s mother, Lenore Burnley and grandfather Cornel Clement, described him as an innocent civilian and detailed that Joseph had been working and staying with family in Venezuela for three months and was planning to return home. Joseph’s girlfriend Ayana Roberts posted a tribute on Facebook, writing “Rip …. Can’t believe this day would come babe . Rest in peace . You were the love of my life . I don’t know how to process this” and included images of them together with a tropical background.

Community reactions in Las Cuevas, such as Joseph´s grandfather, characterized the strike as “an act of evil” and “inhumane.” Regional outlets such as Efecto Cocuyo and TalCual reported the families’ statements and included images of both men – Joseph a young man pictured in a polo shirt and a white tank top while Rishi was slightly older and pictured in a black tank top and posing in front of a red wall.

The government of Trinidad and Tobago has responded to reports of the involvement of their own citizens by denying that they had received any official confirmation that those on the boat were from Trinidad while asserting that they had no jurisdiction to investigate the attack because it occurred in international waters. Further reporting quoted the government as advising family members of the men claiming their relatives had been killed by the US strikes to file missing persons reports with the police, which the families had already done.

The Guardian Trinidad reported on November 5th that FOIA requests had been filed with the government in Trinidad requesting information on the strikes. According to the reporting, the For­eign Af­fairs Min­is­ter Sean Sobers had confirmed that “au­thor­i­ties ob­tained the co­or­di­nates of Unit­ed States mil­i­tary op­er­a­tions in the Caribbean, which ver­i­fy that the strikes oc­curred in in­ter­na­tion­al wa­ters—out­side T&T’s Ex­clu­sive Eco­nom­ic Zone (EEZ)” without reference to any specific strikes.

Channel 4 UK spoke with a local fisherman who had known victim Chad Joseph since he was a young boy and spoke with members of his family, including his aunt Lydia who described his death as “a big loss” and described the distress of not even having a body to bury.

An AP investigation published on November 7th mentioned three men who had reportedly disappeared “last month” at sea and were possibly killed by US military strikes. However, as the reporting did not identify a specific date, their details have been included in all assessments for October but have not been listed among the victims list until further information can tie them to a specific strike. AP reported that 42-year-old Robert Sanchez, a father, fisherman and native of Guiria had been helping traffickers navigate the waterways due to economic pressures when he disappeared and was reported as dead by relatives on social media. 24-year-old Dushak Milovcic, a former cadet in the National Guard Academy had dropped out to make more money from running drugs on boats for smugglers and was killed. Juan Carlos “El Guaramero” Fuentes, a former transit bus operator whose bus had broken down, turned to smuggling to feed his family and had only been on his second smuggling run when he was killed.

Methodological note about classification of those killed in this incident

In documenting this incident, Airwars is following the guidance outlined by independent International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law experts, whereby those on the vessels are understood to be civilians, given that the legal framework in which the strikes are being conducted remains in question.

Airwars has therefore included a civilian casualty count of six deaths.