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The United States has enforced penalties on a operation of four people and four firms accused of hiring former Colombian soldiers to fight for and train a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Announcing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of retired Colombian troops have allegedly journeyed to Sudan to combat beside the RSF paramilitary group, a group implicated in severe violations such as massacres based on ethnicity and large-scale abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered in 2024, after an report which disclosed that hundreds of retired troops had been recruited to engage in combat – an revelation that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have historically been seen as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their vast combat experience resulting from years of internal conflict, knowledge of Nato equipment, and superior tactical education.

Reported Actions

In the conflict, the contractors have allegedly instructed child soldiers, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary previously stated that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer operating from the UAE. The US authorities said he had a central role in enlisting and transporting former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, 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 linked to processing money and salaries for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities linked to Duque engaged in multiple financial transactions, worth millions," the government release said.

Colombian national Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the other individual to be sanctioned, with the firm she operated said to have conducted financial transactions linked to Duque and his companies.

"Washington reiterates its demand for external actors to stop giving funding and arms to the belligerents," the agency said in a statement.

Reaction

An expert, from a conflict think tank, called the actions as a "major" milestone, noting that "targeting the enablers is the correct approach".

She added that, Colombia recently passed a law endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit its citizens' long history in overseas wars and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for dealing with widespread use of contractors".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of Dubai, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he stated. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," the expert cautioned.