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The US government has imposed sanctions on a network of several persons and entities alleged of enlisting South American contractors to fight for and train a militia force in Sudan that Washington accuses of committing genocide.

Network Composition

Disclosing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the network was primarily made up of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of ex-soldiers from Colombia have reportedly travelled to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the RSF paramilitary group, a force linked to terrible atrocities including ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Discovery of Participation

The participation of ex-soldiers was first uncovered in 2024, following an inquiry which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been recruited to fight – an discovery that led to an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

Colombian ex-soldiers have long been considered as highly prized fighters in conflict zones due to their vast combat experience acquired during a long-running domestic war, training on Western military gear, and high-level combat training.

Reported Actions

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, instructed militiamen in drone operation, and engaged in frontline combat. A mercenary previously stated that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but commented that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Sanctioned Individuals

Among those targeted was Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and ex-soldier located in the United Arab Emirates. The government accused him a central role in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Oliveros, was also sanctioned.

Also on the sanctions list was Duque Botero, a dual national who authorities say managed a business implicated in managing finances and payments for the recruitment operation. "Over the past two years, companies in the United States linked to Duque carried out several money transfers, amounting to millions," the official announcement stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz Ucros was the fourth individual to be sanctioned, with the entity she oversaw said to have conducted wire transfers linked to Duque and his companies.

"The United States again calls on external actors to cease providing financial and military support to the combatants," the agency stated.

Reaction

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

Furthermore, Bogotá has enacted a statute endorsing the global treaty against mercenarism, seeking to reduce years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and transform national security policy.

A mercenary specialist, an expert on mercenaries, called for greater wariness, noting that "restrictions are needed but not enough for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"It operates in the black market and based out of the Emirates, which is largely insulated from sanctions," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, an accusation it has denied. "This trend will probably continue," he advised.