Mexican police have raided a compound of the extremist Lev Tahor cult along the border with Guatemala, rescuing, among others, a toddler whose father had escaped the cult years ago.
Twenty-six cult members, including its leader Menachem Endel Alter, were arrested in the raid, which took place over the weekend in the southern Mexican city of Tapachula.
The cult members have been involved in organized crime including human trafficking, rape and drug trafficking, among other serious offenses.
Members of a group nicknamed the “Jewish Taliban” have been forced to leave a compound in the Mexican jungle after a police raid in which children and teenagers were taken into protective custody.
Four Israeli volunteers that included ex-Mossad agents aided Mexican police in the operation to rescue the young people from the Lev Tahor compound in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas.
Lev Tahor, a Jewish sect sometimes compared to a fundamentalist militia akin to the Taliban, is known for its strict and cult-like practices, including child marriage, harsh physical punishments, and mandatory head-to-toe robe coverings for girls as young as three.
Mexican authorities arrested the leader of an extremist ultra-orthodox Jewish sect during a raid on the group’s compound over the weekend.
A state law enforcement official identified the man as Menachem Endel Alter of Jerusalem, leader of the Lev Tahor, who is accused of organized crime and human trafficking.
The raid was carried out on the group’s compound in the municipality of Tapachula, near the Mexico-Guatemala border. Some two dozen women and children were also taken to a government shelter.
Moshe Alter, Endel Alter's brother, delivered food to the women and children held at the shelter on Tuesday. He told The Associated Press that authorities had also taken away a 3-month-old baby whose mother was now in the shelter.