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The US government has levied restrictions on a operation of four individuals and four companies accused of hiring Colombian mercenaries to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Announcing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force linked to severe violations including ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered last year, after an report which found that over three hundred retired troops had been recruited to engage in combat – an discovery that prompted an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience gleaned from years of internal conflict, knowledge of Western military gear, and elite military instruction.

Role in the Conflict

In Sudan, the contractors have been accused of teaching child soldiers, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and participated in direct battles. An individual involved previously stated that training children was "horrific and irrational" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier located in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities accused him a pivotal function in recruiting and deploying ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Oliveros, was penalized as well.

Also on the penalty list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm accused of managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms linked to Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, totalling millions of US dollars," the Treasury statement said.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be penalized, with the company she managed alleged to have wire transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The US once more urges external actors to halt the flow of funding and arms to the belligerents," the Treasury stated.

Expert Analysis

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, called the sanctions as a "major" step, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, the Colombian government recently passed a piece of legislation ratifying the global treaty against mercenarism, aiming to curb years of participation by its nationals in international fights and reshape national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, an expert on mercenaries, called for greater wariness, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and centered in the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The UAE has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.