Mexican authorities arrested members of the Jewish sect Lev Tahor in a raid in which a three-year-old boy was returned to his father who had fled the sect, the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Tuesday (September 27th).
The raid took place on Friday, the ministry said in a statement "
after Mexican police collected evidence against several cult members suspected of drug trafficking, rape and more
."
The Lev Tahor Jewish sect was formed in the 1980s and practices an ultra-Orthodox form of Judaism, where women notably wear black tunics covering them from head to toe.
According to the Israeli press, the operation took place in the town of Tapachula, in southeastern Mexico, near the border with Guatemala.
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Suspected of sex crimes
Among the 26 members of the sect who were on site of different nationalities, Israeli, Canadian, American and Guatemalan, two are suspected of sex crimes and human trafficking.
They face up to 20 years in prison if found guilty by a local court.
In addition, five people were taken to an administrative detention center and are to be expelled from Mexico while the rest of the group was placed in a facility run by Mexican authorities.
Two other members wanted by police who were not at the compound at the time of the raid reportedly left the scene two days earlier, the statement said.
An Israeli team went there as well as the Israeli consul, in order to make sure that the members of the sect are well treated and that the children are not separated from their parents, underlines the press release.
During the operation, a three-year-old boy was handed over to his father who had fled the sect several years ago.
Both arrived in Israel on Monday, it is further reported.
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