Mercer County case revived as families of Colombian victims seek accountability over alleged paramilitary funding
TRENTON, NJ – A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit accusing Chiquita Brands International Inc. of funding and supporting Colombian paramilitary groups should return to New Jersey Superior Court, granting the plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case and rejecting the company’s attempt to keep it in federal court.
Key Points
- U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner granted plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case to Mercer County Superior Court.
- The case revives claims by Colombian families alleging Chiquita funded and armed terrorist groups.
- The ruling distinguishes the new New Jersey filing from ongoing federal multidistrict litigation in Florida.
Families of Colombian victims seek justice in New Jersey
In a memorandum opinion issued this week, Judge Castner ruled in favor of Luis Antonio Cubides Ramirez and other plaintiffs, who allege that Chiquita “funded, armed, and otherwise supported terrorist organizations in Colombia in order to maintain its profitable control of Colombia’s banana-growing regions.”
The plaintiffs, relatives of trade unionists, banana workers, and social activists killed by Colombia’s right-wing paramilitary organization United Self-Defense Committees of Colombia (AUC), filed the case in Mercer County Superior Court in 2025. Chiquita moved the case to federal court, arguing that it was connected to a series of federal suits that have been consolidated for years in the Southern District of Florida.
Judge rejects Chiquita’s removal to federal court
Judge Castner disagreed, finding that the new complaint brought under New Jersey state law was distinct from prior federal cases and did not raise issues giving rise to federal jurisdiction.
“This matter comes before the Court upon Plaintiffs’ motion to remand this case to the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County,” Judge Castner wrote. “For the reasons set forth below, and other good cause shown, Plaintiffs’ motion to remand is granted.”
The opinion recounted the long history of related litigation, including the 2007 lawsuit in the District of New Jersey and subsequent multidistrict litigation centralized in Florida by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML). Those cases allege Chiquita paid millions of dollars to Colombian death squads between the 1990s and 2004.
Broader litigation history
In 2007, similar plaintiffs accused Chiquita of making illegal payments to the AUC, a group designated by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization. Federal prosecutors later confirmed that Chiquita had paid the AUC while operating banana plantations in conflict zones and that the company pleaded guilty to making those payments, paying a $25 million criminal fine.
The ongoing civil cases in Florida—brought under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and the Torture Victims Protection Act (TVPA)—seek damages on behalf of victims’ families. The New Jersey filing, however, was structured under state law, which Judge Castner noted distinguishes it from the federal actions.
Case returns to state court
With the remand order granted, the lawsuit will proceed in Mercer County Superior Court, where the plaintiffs originally filed. The decision means Chiquita must now defend the claims under New Jersey procedural rules rather than within the federal multidistrict proceedings in Florida.
Chiquita, a multinational fruit producer headquartered in Florida, has consistently denied liability in the ongoing civil actions, maintaining that the payments were made under duress amid Colombia’s armed conflict.
Tags: New Jersey, Chiquita Brands, Colombia