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The United States has enforced penalties on a group of four people and four firms alleged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group which the US alleges of acts of genocide.

Network Composition

Disclosing the restrictions on Tuesday, the American treasury stated the scheme was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a group implicated in terrible atrocities encompassing targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered in 2024, following an report which disclosed that over three hundred former soldiers had been contracted to engage in combat – an event that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from a long-running domestic war, familiarity with Nato equipment, and superior tactical education.

Activities in Sudan

In Sudan, the mercenaries have been accused of teaching child soldiers, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "terrible and insane" but commented that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those targeted was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier based in the United Arab Emirates. The Treasury accused him a key part in recruiting and deploying ex-military personnel to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm implicated in managing finances and payments for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States linked to Duque conducted several money transfers, worth millions," the official announcement said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted wire transfers connected to Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to halt the flow of funding and arms to the warring parties," the Treasury announced.

Analyst Commentary

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "major" milestone, stating that "identifying the recruiters is the correct approach".

Furthermore, Bogotá has enacted a statute approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in international fights and change national security policy.

Another expert, a scholar on the subject, called for greater wariness, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It’s an illicit economy and operating from Dubai, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The UAE has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," the expert cautioned.