Colombian mercenaries in Sudan ‘recruited by UK-registered firms’ | Conflict and arms

Near Tottenham Hotspur’s shiny football stadium in London stands a squat, nondescript block of flats. A cramped second-floor flat in England’s capital, linked to deadly atrocities taking place 3,000 miles to the south, hides a terrible secret beyond its unremarkable beige brickwork.

The one-bedroom flat in north London’s Creighton Road is linked to a transnational network of paramilitary forces accused of numerous war crimes and genocide, as well as companies involved in the mass recruitment of mercenaries to fight in Sudan, according to UK government records.

Hundreds of former Colombian military personnel have been drafted to fight in the Sudanese Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group responsible for mass rapes, ethnic massacres, and the systematic killing of women and children.

Colombian mercenaries were directly involved in paramilitary forces’ capture of the southwestern Sudanese city of El Fasher in late October; This led to a killing spree that analysts say has claimed the lives of at least 60,000 people.

As reports of atrocities continue to mount, the Guardian’s investigation has found links between mercenaries hired to invade Al Fasher and addresses in the UK capital.

The flat in Tottenham is registered to a company called Zeuz Global, founded by two people. named and approved last week Due to the hiring of Colombian mercenaries by the US treasury to fight on behalf of the RSF.

Both figures – Colombian nationals in their 50s – are identified in documents at Companies House, the government register of firms operating in and based in the UK.

The company is active. The day after the US treasury announced sanctions against those behind the Colombian mercenary operation – December 9 – Zeuz Global suddenly moved its operation to the heart of London. On December 10, the company shared its “new address details”. New zip code matches An AldwychA five-star hotel in Covent Garden.

But the first line of Zeuz Global’s new address is, confusingly, “4dd Aldwych”, which corresponds to: Waldorf Hilton 100 meters from the hotel.

Both hotels said they had no connection with Zeuz Global and had no idea why the company was using their postal codes.

Experts say the saga raises questions about how people the US has publicly condemned for their “role in fueling the civil war in Sudan” were ostensibly able to set up and run a company in the UK capital.

British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper condemned RSF for “systematic murders, torture and sexual violence” following the group’s takeover of El Fasher. RSF is accused of genocide by the United States.

Mike Lewis is a researcher and former member. UN expert panel on SudanHe said: “It is of great concern that the key individuals who the US government alleges managed this mercenary supply were able to set up a UK company operating from an office in north London and even claim to be resident in the UK.”

Companies House did not respond when asked if it had any knowledge of what Zeuz Global actually did or was doing. The government agency also did not confirm whether those sanctioned were actually UK residents.

Contacting Zeuz proved fruitless; The website, launched in May, was labeled “under construction” and no contact information was provided.

According to US treasuryThe man at the center of the Colombian recruitment network for the RSF is a retired Colombian officer named Álvaro Andrés Quijano Becerra, a dual Colombian-Italian national and serving in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The US treasury accuses Quijano of playing a central role in recruiting former Colombian soldiers to be sent to Sudan, using a Bogotá-based employment agency he co-founded. His wife, Claudia Viviana Oliveros Forero, was also sanctioned because she owned and managed the agency.

A dual Colombian-Spanish citizen named Mateo Andrés Duque Botero was similarly condemned by the United States for running a blamed business. manage funds and payroll For the network that recruits Colombian fighters.

“In 2024 and 2025, US-based firms affiliated with Duque conducted multiple wire transfers totaling millions of US dollars,” the US treasury statement said.

On April 8 this year, Duque and Oliveros registered a company in north London called ODP8 Ltd (later renamed Zeuz Global) with a capital of £10,000.

Three days later, the RSF attacked the Zamzam refugee camp, massacring more than 1,500 civilians. After capture, the camp was handed over to Colombian mercenaries, who began preparations to attack El Fasher, eight miles to the north.

Duque and Oliveros are named in Companies House filings as owning “original shares,” while Oliveros is named as a person with “significant control” within the company.

Oliveros, 52, from Colombia, describes Britain as his “country of residence”.

On July 17, 2025, Duque was appointed administrator and is also stated to be a resident of the United Kingdom. Analysts say the recruitment of Colombians has had a profound impact on the course of the conflict, with Colombian citizens training children to fight as snipers and infantrymen in addition to being soldiers.

They also served as instructors and pilots for unmanned aerial vehicles, which proved effective in the fall of El Fasher and in the fighting in the Kordofan region on the border with Darfur.

Lewis said: “The war in Sudan is a high-tech war in which guided weapons and long-range drones are causing daily civilian casualties. These weapons require outside assistance to work. We know that the Colombian mercenary operation is a key component of this foreign aid.”

He added that the involvement of the sanctioned individuals in a London firm underlined wider concerns about the lack of stringent checks when setting up companies.

“Having a UK company like this is a passport for criminals to do business with legitimate counterparts. In many cases it is harder to sign up for a gym than to set up a UK company,” Lewis said.

“As a result, there is a long and well-publicised history of UK front companies being used to provide arms and military aid to embargoed actors in Sudan, South Sudan, Libya, North Korea and even ISIS. [Islamic State].”

Lewis added that the issue raises concerns about what the British government is doing to ensure British companies are not involved in the mercenary operation.

A government source said: latest promotion The introduction of “mandatory identity verification” for directors and persons with significant control will provide greater assurance about who establishes, operates and controls UK companies.

They added that the new powers given to Companies House had made significant progress in tackling misinformation on the register and increasing support for the police.

Colombian involvement in Sudan was first revealed last year by an investigation by the Bogotá-based publication. La Silla Vacia It revealed that more than 300 former soldiers had signed contracts to fight. This statement led Colombia’s foreign ministry to apologize.

One of the mercenaries recently confirmed to the Guardian that he was training children in Sudan and fighting in El Fasher.

The UAE, long accused of arming the RSF, has also been linked to the recruitment of Colombian mercenaries.

A. Report of the investigative organization Sentry Last month, Emirati businessmen who supplied Colombians to RSF were allegedly linked to a senior UAE government official. The United Arab Emirates has consistently denied these allegations.

A UK government spokesman said: “The UK is calling for an immediate end to the atrocities, the protection of civilians and the removal of barriers to access to humanitarian aid for all parties to the conflict.

“We recently sanctioned RSF commanders for their role in the atrocities in El Fasher,” they said.