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The US government has enforced penalties on a network of four people and four firms alleged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Group Makeup

Disclosing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was primarily made up of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have allegedly journeyed to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in terrible atrocities including targeted ethnic killings and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, after an investigation which revealed that hundreds of ex-military personnel had been recruited to engage in combat – an discovery that resulted in an unprecedented apology from the Colombian government.

Colombian ex-soldiers have widely regarded as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience resulting from years of internal conflict, knowledge of Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Activities in Sudan

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have allegedly instructed minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved remarked that working with child soldiers was "awful and crazy" but commented that "sadly, that is the nature of conflict".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was a dual national, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer located in the United Arab Emirates. The US authorities accused him a central role in enlisting and transporting mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated oversaw a company accused of handling funds and payroll for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States associated with Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the Treasury statement said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted money transfers linked to Duque and his businesses.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the combatants," the department stated.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "major" milestone, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

Furthermore, Colombia recently passed a law approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce decades of Colombian involvement in overseas wars and transform national security policy.

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

"It operates in the black market and operating from the Emirates, which is difficult to penalize," he stated. The Emirati government has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.