Family seeks answers after boat captain goes missing in US strike

Ricky Joseph, a 35-year-old boat captain from St. Lucia, has gone missing following a US military strike on an alleged drug vessel on 13 February.

Family seeks answers after St. Lucia boat captain disappears

Family members of Ricky Joseph, a 35-year-old boat captain and father of four children from the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, fear he may have been killed in a US military strike on an alleged drug vessel on 13 February. This is reported by apnews.com based on a telephone interview with his family.

His brother Titus Joseph said he last had contact with Ricky two days before the strike. When fishermen described to him how the targeted vessel looked inside, his suspicions were confirmed. "From the moment they told me the inside was red, black and green, I said: if that's the ship that exploded, then that's the ship my brother went to sea on," said Titus Joseph.

Ricky Joseph lived in Vieux Fort, at the southern tip of St. Lucia, and worked most of his life as a captain on fishing vessels. The US military reported that three alleged "narco-terrorists" were killed in the 13 February strike. Titus Joseph firmly rejected the suggestion that his brother was involved in drug smuggling or other criminal activities. "That man has never been arrested," he said.

Following Ricky's disappearance, his family filed a missing persons report. The remains of a heavily damaged vessel have since washed ashore on St. Lucia and local police have taken the ship into custody. However, the police refused to confirm whether this was the vessel involved in the strike.

On Thursday, the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines announced that the strike took place in its territorial waters. The island group, located just south of St. Lucia, warned fishermen to be cautious at sea.

US military operations in the Caribbean region began in early September. Since then, at least 151 people have been killed, as part of the policy of President Donald Trump's government aimed at what it describes as "narco-terrorists" on board small vessels. The most recent strike took place on Monday and killed three people according to the US military.

Source: Google News GD — Crime