Situated near the shiny soccer ground of Tottenham Hotspur in London is a squat, unremarkable apartment building. Beyond its ordinary beige brickwork exists a dark secret: a cramped second-floor apartment linked to murderous crimes unfolding a vast distance to the south.
Per British official documents, this apartment in north London is tied to a transnational web of firms implicated in the large-scale recruitment of fighters to fight in the African nation alongside paramilitaries accused of myriad atrocities and genocide.
A large number of former Colombian military personnel have been recruited to serve with Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group blamed for sexual violence, targeted killings, and the systematic murder of civilians.
Colombian mercenaries were key participants in the paramilitaries’ capture of the south-western Sudanese city of El Fasher in recent months, which sparked a wave of violence that analysts say has cost over 60,000 lives.
As accounts of atrocities mount, connections have been identified between the fighters hired to overrun El Fasher and locations in the UK capital.
The apartment in Tottenham is registered to a company named Zeuz Global, set up by two people named and penalized recently by the American authorities for hiring Colombian mercenaries to combat for the RSF.
Both individuals – Colombian nationals in their fifties – are listed in records at Companies House as resident in the United Kingdom.
The company is operational. The following day the United States announced sanctions on those running the Colombian mercenary operation, Zeuz Global suddenly relocated its official location to the very heart of London. Its updated address corresponds to one five-star hotel in a central district.
Both hotels said they had no connection to Zeuz Global and had no idea why the company had listed their postcodes.
"This is of major concern that the primary figures the US government claims are directing this mercenary supply have been able to establish a UK company operating from a flat in north London," said an expert, a analyst and ex-participant of a United Nations group on Sudan.
Analysts argue the saga raises concerns over how people openly censured by the US for "fueling the conflict in Sudan" were able to apparently establish and operate a firm in the British capital.
The UK's top diplomat has condemned the RSF for "organized murder, abuse and assault" following the group’s capture of El Fasher. The RSF has been charged by the US with acts of genocide.
When asked about Zeuz Global, Companies House did not comment on whether it had knowledge of the firm’s operations or verify the location of the sanctioned individuals.
Reaching out to Zeuz was unsuccessful; its website, set up in spring, was marked as "under construction" with lacking information.
According to the US treasury, the figure at the heart of the South American recruitment operation for the RSF is a dual Colombian-Italian national and former army officer based in the Gulf state.
The US accuses this individual of playing a central role in recruiting ex-military personnel to be sent to Sudan using a Colombian employment agency. His spouse was also penalized for running the firm.
Another individual with two citizenships was also sanctioned for overseeing a business accused of handling funds and payroll for the network employing the Colombian fighters.
"During 2024 and 2025, companies in America associated with this individual conducted many bank transactions, totalling millions of US dollars," the official announcement read.
In spring of this year, the penalized figures set up a company in north London called ODP8 Ltd – later re-branded Zeuz Global.
Shortly after, the RSF attacked the Zamzam camp for displaced people, killing over 1,500 civilians. After its seizure, the camp was handed over to Colombian mercenaries, who began preparations for assaulting El Fasher.
The sanctioned individuals are named in official UK documents as owning "starting shares" in the firm, with one identified as a key controller.
The two list the UK as their "place of residency".
The hiring of the Colombians has had a profound impact on the trajectory of the war, experts state. These nationals have allegedly trained children to be soldiers, as well as acting as snipers, foot soldiers, trainers, and operators for drones.
These aircraft were key in the fall of El Fasher and during combat in other regions.
"The war in Sudan is a hi-tech one, with guided weapons and long-range drones causing daily civilian deaths," added the analyst. "These systems require outside assistance to operate. We know that the Colombian mercenary operation has been a significant part of this outside support."
He added that the involvement of sanctioned individuals in a UK company underlined wider worries over the absence of rigorous checks when companies are set up.
"Having a UK company like this is a passport for bad actors to do business with legitimate counterparts. It's still harder to join a fitness centre in most cases than to establish a UK company," he said.
A UK official stated that the recent introduction of "mandatory identity verification" for company directors would provide more confidence about who was setting up and running UK companies.
The Colombians’ involvement in Sudan first came to light last year, prompting an apology from the South American nation's government.
One of the fighters recently confirmed that he had instructed minors in Sudan and fought in El Fasher.
The UAE, long accused of arming the RSF, has also been linked to the hiring of the contractors. A investigation alleged that Emirati business people supplying fighters to the RSF were linked to a high-ranking Emirati figure. The UAE has consistently denied these allegations.
A British government spokesperson said: "The UK is demanding an immediate end to atrocities, the safety of non-combatants, and the lifting of barriers to humanitarian access."
They added that the UK had recently imposed restrictions on RSF leaders for their role in the crimes in El Fasher.
