Mexico: The authorities raided the "Pure Heart" cult compound, dozens were arrested

About 80 security and government personnel participated in the arrest mission, and they were accompanied by an Israeli team, which included the former community member who managed to escape, Israel Amir.

He came to the activity, to identify his 3-year-old son, and his family members who are still part of the cult

Yoav Itiel

09/27/2022

Tuesday, September 27, 2022, 4:01 p.m. Updated: 4:43 p.m.

• Share on Facebook

• Share on WhatsApp

• Share on Twitter

• Share by email

• Share in general

• Comments

  Comments

The headmaster of a "Pure Lev" sect school is accused of assaulting children (Editor: Jordana Avodi-Fox)

The authorities in Mexico raided the compound of the "Pure Heart" cult last week and arrested two of its leaders and dozens of its members who belong to the 17 families of the cult members who lived there.

The raid that began at 6:30 a.m. included a special force of the police, officials of the State Attorney's Office and personnel of the Ministry of Welfare.

In total, about 80 members of the law and government participated in the mission.

The police were accompanied by a private Israeli team hired by the families.

Israel's consul in Mexico, stayed nearby.

The Israeli, Israel Amir, who ran away from the sect a few years ago and whose 3-year-old son, sister and brother are in the sect, also participated in the raid along with other family members, in order to identify the children.

Dozens of members of the sect were arrested (photo: Walla! system, documentation on social networks according to Section 27A of the Copyright Law)

The raid took place after the Mexican police gathered incriminating evidence against several people in the sect, following suspicions of drug trafficking, rape and more.

During the raid, 26 cult members were found in the compound, among them Israeli citizens with other citizenships such as Canada, the United States and Guatemala.

Two members of the sect, Yoel Rosner, a Canadian citizen, and Menachem Mendel Alter, an Israeli citizen, were arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and serious sexual offenses.

They are expected to be tried on the spot and charged with offenses punishable by 20 years in prison.

Two other wanted persons were not found there and according to the friends' testimony they left with another group of friends about two days before the raid.

The other five cult members were transferred to the immigration facility and are expected to be deported for illegal stay.

The rest of the people who were in the compound were transported by vehicle to the compound of the Mexican Ministry of Welfare.

According to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, they are currently staying there under reasonable conditions but significantly better than the cult compound.

Purchased for members of the kosher food sect, they were distributed to clean rooms and cared for by the welfare authorities in Mexico.

The Israeli consul is present at the scene to prevent violence, to ensure that children are not separated from their mothers and to issue travel documents to those who need it.

The two arrested cult leaders (photo: Walla! system, documentation on social networks according to Article 27A of the Copyright Law)

During the operation, Israel's son was handed over to him by the Mexican authorities, and the two landed in Israel last night. The rest of the sect members currently refused to leave the community. Sect members who were not arrested demonstrated on Sunday outside the detention facility, where their members are being held. They are demanding the release of their relatives, on in order to be able to continue proceedings before the Mexican Committee for Refugee Assistance. Several women and children tried to escape from the detention facility through fences.

According to reports in a local newspaper, security guards at the facility confronted the protesters outside to prevent them from documenting the harsh conditions inside. The protesters claim that relatives are being held in inhumane conditions, Without medical care and without proper food. Israel denies the claims, while the cult members asked the Mexican government to "avoid oppression by the authorities entrusted with guaranteeing human rights and let them continue their course and daily life." and passing through Mexico.

The women of the Pure Heart cult (photo: screenshot, Twitter)

In March, two of the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox sect "Pure Heart" were sentenced in the United States to 12 years in prison for kidnapping and trafficking in women.

The two, Nachman Halbrenz and Meir Rosner, were convicted of the crimes of sexual exploitation of children and kidnapping, among other things, of a 12-year-old girl in order to return her to a sexual relationship with an older man.

It took three weeks and more than a hundred law enforcement officers from three states to eventually locate the children in Mexico and reunite them with their mother.

In 2019 and 2021, the Lev Tahor cult made two more attempts to kidnap the children.

For the affair, in June sect members Mordechai Malka and his cousin Matityahu Malka who lived in Guatemala were also convicted in the United States.

Two weeks ago Mordechai Malka was sentenced to 57 months in prison and Matityahu Malka to 66 months in prison.

"This was a horrific, horrific crime that was committed," Judge Nelson Roman said in sentencing Mordechai Malka.

In the case of Jacob Rosner, the fifth defendant in the case, the judge was satisfied with the time he was incarcerated since he was arrested in March last year and did not add another prison term.

Two more accused of involvement in the case, relatives of Malka, have already been extradited from Guatemala to the United States and are also expected to stand trial.

• news

• world news

• America

Tags

• Mexico

• pure heart

• Israelis abroad