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The United States has enforced penalties on a operation of four individuals and four companies charged of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of genocidal acts.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was mostly comprised of Colombian nationals and companies.

Hundreds of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in terrible atrocities including ethnically targeted slaughter and widespread kidnappings.

Revelation of Role

The role of these mercenaries initially emerged in 2024, prompted by an report which disclosed that hundreds of former soldiers had been recruited to engage in combat – an event that led to an rare mea culpa from officials in Bogotá.

These South American veterans have long been considered as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during a long-running domestic war, training on Nato equipment, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, provided drone warfare training, and engaged in frontline combat. An individual involved was quoted as saying that training children was "awful and crazy" but noted that "regrettably, war operates that way".

Targeted Persons

Among those penalized was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier based in the UAE. The Treasury alleged he played a central role in hiring and sending mercenaries to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was similarly targeted.

Also on the penalty list was Duque Botero, a individual with Colombian and Spanish citizenship who the Treasury stated ran a firm implicated in managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, American entities associated with Duque conducted several money transfers, worth millions," the Treasury statement noted.

Citizen of Colombia Mónica Muñoz was the final person to be penalized, with the company she managed accused of wire transfers associated with Duque and his operations.

"Washington reiterates its demand for foreign parties to stop giving monetary and weaponry aid to the belligerents," the Treasury said in a statement.

Expert Analysis

Elizabeth Dickinson, with the International Crisis Group, labeled the measures as a "major" milestone, saying that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

She added that, the Colombian government ratified a piece of legislation endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit its citizens' long history in international fights and transform its security approach.

Another expert, an expert on mercenaries, urged more caution, saying that "sanctions are necessary but insufficient for dealing with the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and operating from the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of arming the RSF, an accusation it has denied. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.