PNN – The Mexican Attorney General’s Office announced that the leader of an extremist Jewish sect in Guatemala was arrested on charges of child abuse and child trafficking and extradited to Mexico.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network citing Rasha Today, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of Yoel Alter, one of the leaders of the extremist Jewish sect “Lev Tahor,” on charges of child trafficking and forced marriage of children.
A Mexican federal judge had issued an arrest warrant for Alter in 2022 on charges related to organized crime and human trafficking, as part of ongoing judicial pursuits against the activities of this sect.
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Alter was arrested on January 24 in Guatemala based on a temporary arrest and extradition warrant issued upon the official request of Mexican authorities.
Although Mexican and Guatemalan authorities had initially agreed that the extradition process for this Jewish defendant would take place at Mexico City International Airport, the Mexican Attorney General’s Office reported that the extradition was carried out in the state of Chiapas, located on the border with Guatemala.
Guatemalan authorities confirmed that the crimes attributed to Alter are punishable in both countries. Guatemalan media reports indicate that the Attorney General’s Office, in a large-scale security operation on December 20, 2024, raided the sect’s main headquarters in the Santa Rosa region, approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Guatemala City.
This operation, which led to the rescue of 160 children, was carried out after four children escaped from the compound in mid-November 2024 and informed local authorities about the abusive living conditions they had experienced within the sect.
In the same context, Colombian authorities last November rescued 17 children who were staying with sect members in a hotel in the city of Yaroumal. Additionally, an international arrest warrant was issued via Interpol for five sect members, with US, Canadian, and Guatemalan citizenship, on charges related to child abduction and human trafficking.