The leader of an extremist ultra-orthodox Jewish sect known as Lev Tahor was arrested by state and federal officials in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. The sect leader was identified as Menachem Endel Alter of Jerusalem. He is accused of organized crime and human trafficking.
Endel Alter was arrested near the Mexico-Guatemala border, inside the Lev Tahor group's jungle compound, in an operation led by the Mexican Attorney General's Office. The Associated Press also reported that an unspecified number of women and children were removed from the compound.
BBC reported that a three-year-old child removed from the compound was already flown to Israel.