United States Enforces Sanctions on Group Accused of Funneling Colombian Fighters to the Sudanese Conflict.

The Washington has enforced penalties on a network of four people and four firms accused of recruiting former Colombian soldiers to support and educate a militia force in Sudan which the US alleges of committing genocide.

Group Makeup

Revealing the sanctions on this week, the US Treasury Department stated the operation was largely composed of Colombian citizens and firms.

Scores of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to go to the Sudanese warzone to fight alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a faction implicated in terrible atrocities encompassing ethnically targeted slaughter and mass abductions.

Emergence of Involvement

The participation of ex-soldiers first came to light the previous year, prompted by an investigation which found that hundreds of former soldiers had been contracted to engage in combat – an revelation that prompted an rare mea culpa from Colombia’s foreign ministry.

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

Role in the Conflict

In the Sudanese theater, the mercenaries have allegedly instructed minors, taught fighters to pilot drones, and engaged in frontline combat. One source remarked that instructing minors was "horrific and irrational" but noted that "unfortunately that’s how war is".

Targeted Persons

Among those targeted was a dual national, a citizen of both Colombia and Italy and ex-soldier located in the UAE. The US authorities said he had a key part in recruiting and deploying former Colombian soldiers to Sudan. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was penalized as well.

Also on the sanctions list was Mateo Duque Botero, a dual national who officials alleged managed a business implicated in processing money and salaries for the network. "In 2024 and 2025, American entities connected to Duque carried out multiple financial transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement noted.

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

"The United States again calls on foreign parties to stop giving financial and military support to the belligerents," the Treasury stated.

Reaction

A senior analyst, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, labeled the actions as a "highly important" milestone, noting that "targeting the enablers is the right way to go".

It was also noted that, Bogotá ratified a piece of legislation ratifying the anti-mercenary convention, designed to limit years of participation by its nationals in foreign conflicts and change domestic defense strategy.

A mercenary specialist, a scholar on the subject, advised additional measures, noting that "penalties are required yet incomplete for combating the growing mercenary trade".

"This is a shadow economy and operating from Dubai, which is relatively sanction-proof," he said. The United Arab Emirates has been frequently alleged of providing arms to the militia, claims it rejects. "More contractors from Colombia are likely," he advised.