US Sanctions Colombian Network Recruiting Mercenaries and Training Child Soldiers to Fight for Sudan's RSF

The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions on four individuals and four companies accused of running a transnational network that recruited former Colombian military personnel to fight for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

“The US Treasury has sanctioned four Colombian nationals—Alvaro Andres Quijano Becerra, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, Mateo Andres Duque Botero and Monica Munoz Ucros—and four businesses they run, accusing them of forming a “transnational network” to profit from Sudan’s civil war”

Al Jazeera

U.S. officials said the network moved fighters to Sudan and even trained children to fight.

Al Jazeera

Officials named Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra and linked companies including Bogotá’s International Services Agency (A4SI), Panama-based Global Staffing S.A. and Colombia’s Maine Global Corp S.A.S.

The designations freeze U.S. assets and bar U.S. persons from dealing with the targets.

The Treasury said the measures aim to disrupt recruitment, funding and deployment channels that have bolstered the RSF and worsened the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

Reporting across outlets describes the roles former Colombian personnel allegedly performed in Sudan: infantry, artillery, drone pilots, vehicle operators and instructors, and some reports say they took part in major operations in Khartoum, Omdurman, Kordofan and El Fasher.

Several outlets and a U.S. Treasury statement further say some recruits reportedly trained child soldiers.

Al-Jazeera Net

Media coverage also links those combat deployments to documented abuses by the Rapid Support Forces, including mass killings, ethnically targeted violence and sexual abuse, which have intensified the humanitarian emergency.

Sanctions identify key individuals and corporate nodes allegedly central to recruitment and money flows.

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albawaba

Officials singled out Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, described as a dual Colombian–Italian retired officer based in the UAE, and his Bogotá-registered International Services Agency (A4SI).

The A4SI owner/manager is reported as Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero.

Panama-based Global Staffing S.A. (now Talent Bridge, S.A.), Colombia’s Maine Global Corp S.A.S., and Comercializadora San Bendito were also named.

U.S. statements and multiple outlets say Maine Global handled payroll and currency exchanges, and that U.S.-linked wire transfers moved millions in 2024–25.

Several outlets report follow-the-money leads and alleged UAE links, but they differ on how explicitly sanctions and public statements connect those links to state actors.

The sanctions were presented against a backdrop of grave humanitarian concern.

“The US Treasury on Tuesday sanctioned four individuals and four entities accused of recruiting fighters for Sudan’s civil war, a network it says is largely made up of Colombian nationals and companies that recruit former Colombian military and train soldiers — including children — for the rebel Rapid Support Forces (RSF)”

Anadolu Ajansı

U.S. officials warned that the RSF’s brutality has worsened the conflict, contributing to large-scale displacement and regional instability.

Anadolu Ajansı

Some outlets noted additional steps, such as the U.S. State Department’s earlier declaration that RSF members had committed genocide.

Coverage stresses that the designations freeze U.S. assets and bar transactions, aiming to choke recruitment and funding.

Humanitarians and the UN urge an end to the violence that has forced millions to flee.