A major investigation has uncovered that companies registered in the United Kingdom were instrumental in recruiting Colombian mercenaries to fight for a paramilitary force in Sudan, a revelation that has now triggered sanctions from the United States government.
The Recruitment Pipeline from South America to Sudan
The US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on Friday, 19 December 2025, targeting a network involved in the recruitment and financing of foreign fighters. At the heart of this network are several entities, including two firms incorporated in the UK: Wagner Consulting Ltd and Wagner Consulting (UK) Ltd.
These companies, alongside others based in the Central African Republic and the United Arab Emirates, are accused of facilitating the deployment of experienced Colombian combat veterans to Sudan. There, they fought alongside the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the paramilitary group engaged in a brutal civil war against the Sudanese army.
The investigation details how recruiters specifically targeted former members of Colombia's military, leveraging the country's deep pool of battle-hardened personnel. The mercenaries were reportedly offered lucrative contracts, with some promises of monthly salaries reaching up to $2,700, a significant sum that far exceeds typical local earnings.
UK Corporate Veil and Sanctions Evasion
The use of UK-registered companies highlights a recurring issue in global conflict finance: the exploitation of Britain's corporate structures to lend a veneer of legitimacy to opaque and violent operations. While the companies bear the 'Wagner' name, famously associated with the Russian private military group, their precise operational links remain complex.
US officials stated that the network sanctioned was working to evade earlier sanctions imposed on the Wagner Group itself. By establishing new corporate entities, including those in London, the network aimed to continue its activities in sourcing and transporting fighters to conflict zones.
The UK's Companies House records show that Wagner Consulting Ltd was incorporated in October 2022, with its sole director listed as a Russian national. The company was dissolved via a compulsory strike-off in late 2024. Its sister company, Wagner Consulting (UK) Ltd, met a similar fate.
Broader Implications for Global Security
This case underscores the increasingly transnational and commercialised nature of modern conflict. The flow of mercenaries from South America to a war in Northeast Africa, facilitated by companies registered in Europe and financed through Middle Eastern hubs, presents a severe challenge to international regulatory frameworks.
The US sanctions freeze any assets these entities hold under US jurisdiction and prohibit Americans from conducting business with them. The action serves as a direct response to the atrocities committed in Sudan, where the RSF has been accused of widespread war crimes, including ethnic massacres in Darfur.
Security analysts warn that such networks threaten to prolong and intensify conflicts by providing warring factions with a steady supply of professional fighters, thereby undermining diplomatic peace efforts. The revelation also places renewed scrutiny on the UK's corporate registration system, often criticised for its susceptibility to exploitation by illicit finance operatives.
As the civil war in Sudan continues to create one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters, the role of external actors and foreign fighters remains a critical, and now explicitly sanctioned, element of the conflict's grim dynamics.
