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The Washington has enforced penalties on a group of several persons and entities alleged of enlisting Colombian mercenaries to combat alongside and instruct a Sudanese paramilitary group the United States claims of acts of genocide.

Operation Structure

Disclosing the sanctions on Tuesday, the US Treasury Department stated the network was largely composed of individuals and businesses from Colombia.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the conflict in Sudan to operate with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a force implicated in horrific war crimes including massacres based on ethnicity and mass abductions.

Revelation of Role

The involvement of Colombian fighters was first uncovered the previous year, after an inquiry which disclosed that more than 300 retired troops had been recruited to fight – an discovery that prompted an unusual statement of regret from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

These South American veterans have widely regarded as some of the most in-demand contractors globally due to their extensive battlefield experience acquired during years of internal conflict, knowledge of Nato equipment, and elite military instruction.

Reported Actions

In Sudan, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and fought directly on the frontlines. One source remarked that instructing minors was "awful and crazy" but added that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a retired Colombian officer, a dual Colombian-Italian national and retired Colombian military officer operating from the Dubai. The US authorities accused him a central role in enlisting and transporting ex-military personnel to Sudan. His spouse, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned.

Also on the restricted list was Duque Botero, a dual Colombian-Spanish citizen who officials alleged managed a business implicated in processing money and salaries for the scheme. "In 2024 and 2025, companies in the United States associated with Duque engaged in numerous wire transfers, amounting to millions," the government release stated.

Individual Mónica Muñoz was the other individual to be penalized, with the firm she operated said to have conducted money transfers linked to Duque and his operations.

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to cease providing funding and arms to the combatants," the Treasury stated.

Reaction

Elizabeth Dickinson, from a conflict think tank, called the actions as a "major" development, stating that "calling out those who are doing the contracting is the correct approach".

She added that, the Colombian government recently passed a statute endorsing the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit decades of Colombian involvement in international fights and change domestic defense strategy.

Another expert, a authority on private military contractors, advised additional measures, stating that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating rampant mercenarism".

"It’s an illicit economy and centered in the Emirates, which is relatively sanction-proof," he commented. The United Arab Emirates has been repeatedly implicated of supplying weapons to the paramilitary group, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.