US airstrike near Venezuela may have killed two Trinidad citizens, police say | Trinidad and Tobago

Police in Trinidad and Tobago are investigating whether two citizens were among six people killed in a U.S. strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela.

Without providing evidence, Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that the strike killed six “narcoterrorists” in international waters, allegedly transporting drugs from Venezuela to the United States.

Trinidadian police said residents in the village of Las Cuevas reported that the two citizens were on board the sunken ship, but could not confirm their deaths.

At least 27 people have been killed so far in such attacks off the coast of Venezuela, which the Trump administration says are necessary to protect the United States from narcotics smuggling from Venezuela.

Lenore Burnley, mother of Trinidadian fisherman Chad Joseph, 26, told AFP by telephone that people her family knows in Venezuela “told them he was on the boat.”

“According to maritime law, if you see a boat you are supposed to stop it and intercept it, not just blow it up. This is our Trinidadian maritime law and I think every fisherman and every human being knows that,” she said.

Burnley said her son planned to return to Trinidad and Tobago after spending three months with his family in Venezuela, just 7 miles away.

Local media reported another Trinidadian victim from Las Cuevas, known as Samaroo to locals.

In response to the U.S. military buildup in the region, Nicolas Maduro ordered large-scale military exercises on Wednesday and said he was mobilizing the army, police and a civilian militia to defend his country.