Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 21/Oct 19:48

Trini in US boat strike related to dead gang leader

The family of Las Cuevas resident Chad Joseph is questioning why his relation to deceased drug lord Vaughn “Sandman” Mieres is surfacing now. Joseph is believed to have been one of two TT citizens killed when US forces bombed a boat off Venezuela’s coast. He is the nephew of Mieres, who was charged with being a gang leader during the 2011 state of emergency, but was released for lack of evidence. In 2018 he was arrested and charged with possession of arms and ammunition and was released on $250,000 bail. In July 2019, Mieres, his wife Alita DeHere and two of his bodyguards were killed when eight gunmen stormed his heavily fortified home on a hillside compound in Las Cuevas. One of Joseph’s relatives confirmed the familial connection in a conversation with Newsday on October 21. “He was his nephew. But why people bringing all that up? That has nothing to do with what happened to him (Joseph),” said his aunt Lynette Burnley. [caption id="attachment_1185805" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Lynette Burnley, aunt of Chad Joseph. -[/caption] Joseph’s family believes he was among six men who died on October 14, when the US government claimed its military destroyed a boat allegedly transporting illegal drugs in international waters off Venezuela. It was the fifth such missile strike by the US in its offensive against alleged narco-traffickers in the southern Caribbean. Last week Burnley said Joseph had spent time in prison but said that was because he got involved with the wrong crowd. She said he had since turned his life around. “That was a long time ago. He was really young when that happened… He wasn’t involved in that life any more...You know young children don’t want to hear anything and they get caught up with the wrong friends.” She claimed people were trying to “dirty” Joseph’s character adding, “He changed his life and was normal. He never get caught up with them kind of things again." Minister of Homeland Security Roger Alexander has urged Joseph's family to file a missing person's report. He also highlighted a 2018 incident when Joseph was arrested aboard a vessel from Venezuela carrying illegal drugs. There has since been two more boat bombings by the US forces bringing the death toll in the incidents to more than 30. US news outlets say the survivors from last Thursday’s strike, two men from Colombia and Ecuador, have since been handed over to officials in their respective countries.   The post Trini in US boat strike related to dead gang leader appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.