Mexican cops raid Lev Tahor compound, remove children

Mexican police raided the jungle compound of Jewish extremist sect Lev Tahor (“Pure Heart”) and removed minors from the site, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Two adult members of the group, described by former members as a cult, are under arrest on suspicion of human trafficking and severe sexual offenses, including rape.

Some 80 Mexican law enforcement officials took part in the raid. Twenty-six persons were detained at the compound in Tapachula, in the far southeast state of Chiapas, including citizens of Israel, the United States, Canada and Guatemala. Some will be deported.

Continue reading at https://www.jns.org/mexican-cops-raid-lev-tahor-compound-remove-children/

Jewish sect in Mexico escape from detention after police raid

HUIXTLA, Mexico, Sept 29 (Reuters) - A group of about 20 members of a fundamentalist Jewish sect escaped from a Mexican detention center in the southern state of Chiapas on Wednesday night, according to a Reuters reporter who filmed the incident.

The group were being held by Mexico's National System for Integral Family Development, or DIF, following a raid by Mexican police on Friday that targeted Lev Tahor - a strict Jewish sect that practices arranged marriages and full-body coverings for girls as young as three.

The sect is estimated to consist of about 200 to 300 people and rejects the state of Israel.

Neither the DIF nor the office of Mexico's Attorney General's office responded to requests to comment on the case.

Continue reading at https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/jewish-sect-mexico-escape-detention-after-police-raid-2022-09-29/

Mexican authorities indict 26 members of the Lev Tahor sect

Mexican authorities raided a compound occupied by the extremist Jewish sect Lev Tahor along the Guatemalan border and rescued a three-year-old boy whose father had escaped from the sect, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

Friday's raid was carried out in the town of Tapachula, in southeastern Mexico, with the participation of dozens of local law enforcement and social workers. The operation was approved following an investigation by Mexican authorities which found evidence of involvement of cult members in human trafficking, rape, drug trafficking and other serious offences.

Continue reading at https://fr-timesofisrael-com.translate.goog/les-autorites-mexicaines-inculpent-26-membres-de-la-secte-lev-tahor/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp

Read this article in French: https://fr.timesofisrael.com/les-autorites-mexicaines-inculpent-26-membres-de-la-secte-lev-tahor/