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The United States has imposed sanctions on a network of four individuals and four companies alleged of hiring South American contractors to support and educate a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was mostly comprised of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a force accused of horrific war crimes encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, after an investigation which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been contracted to participate in the war – an revelation that led to an unusual statement of regret from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their considerable warzone knowledge resulting from a long-running domestic war, familiarity with Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the contractors have been accused of teaching minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that training children was "terrible and insane" but noted that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and retired Colombian military officer operating from the UAE. The government alleged he played a central role in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who officials alleged managed a business accused of handling funds and payroll for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities associated with Duque carried out numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement noted.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted money transfers linked to Duque and his companies.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to cease providing monetary and weaponry aid to the warring parties," the department said in a statement.

Reaction

A senior analyst, from a conflict think tank, called the actions as a "major" milestone, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

It was also noted that, the Colombian government recently passed a piece of legislation ratifying the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and reshape national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, an expert on mercenaries, advised additional measures, stating that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and centered in the UAE, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The UAE has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, claims it rejects. "Expect more Colombian mercenaries," the expert cautioned.