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The United States has levied restrictions on a network of several persons and entities charged of hiring Colombian mercenaries to support and educate a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Network Composition

Revealing the restrictions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the scheme was largely composed of Colombian nationals and companies.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Sudanese RSF militia, a force accused of horrific war crimes including ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered in 2024, following an report which found that over three hundred former soldiers had been recruited to participate in the war – an discovery that prompted an unusual statement of regret from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as among the world’s most sought-after mercenaries due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during years of internal conflict, familiarity with advanced weaponry, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the contractors have been accused of teaching underage fighters, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "horrific and irrational" but added that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Named Entities

Among those sanctioned was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier based in the Dubai. The government alleged he played a central role in recruiting and deploying mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was similarly targeted.

Also on the restricted list was Mateo Andrés Duque Botero, a dual national who authorities say ran a firm linked to managing finances and payments for the scheme. "Over the past two years, US-based firms connected to Duque conducted numerous wire transfers, amounting to millions," the government release stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the fourth individual to be targeted, with the firm she operated alleged to have wire transfers associated with Duque and his businesses.

"The United States again calls on outside forces to halt the flow of funding and arms to the belligerents," the agency stated.

Reaction

An expert, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "very significant" development, noting that "identifying the recruiters is the proper strategy".

She added that, Bogotá has enacted a piece of legislation approving the International Convention Against the Recruitment and Use of Mercenaries, seeking to reduce its citizens' long history in overseas wars and reshape domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, urged more caution, saying that "penalties are required yet incomplete for addressing the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and based out of Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been widely accused of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "This trend will probably continue," McFate warned.