Mexican authorities have raided a compound used by the extremist Jewish Lev Tahor cult along the Guatemalan border and rescued a three-year-old boy whose father had escaped the cult years ago, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
The Friday raid was carried out at the city of Tapachula in southeast Mexico and included dozens of local law enforcement and welfare workers. It was approved following an ongoing investigation by Mexican authorities that found evidence of cult members involved in human trafficking, rape, drug trafficking and other serious offenses.
A private Israeli team that was hired by relatives of some of the cult members stood by, as well as Israeli consul Lior Batzov, who was sent to the site to make sure that cult members were not treated with violence and that children are not separated from their parents, according to the Foreign Ministry.