US EditionColombia detains Lev Tahor sect members and takes 17 children into protective custody
Colombian immigration officials detained nine Lev Tahor members and placed 17 minors in protective custody amid international alerts for child abuse and trafficking.
- During a hotel inspection in Yarumal, Colombia, nine adults from the Lev Tahor sect were detained and questioned on Sunday, Gloria Esperanza Arriero confirmed.
- Following reports from residents of Yarumal, Colombian police and immigration authorities acted after prior interventions, including a Guatemala raid last year that took at least 160 minors and 40 women and a 2022 arrest by Mexican authorities.
- Authorities found Interpol yellow notices matching five children holding American and Guatemalan passports, while immigration officials placed 17 children into protective custody; two leaders were convicted in New York in 2021.
- Arriero said authorities will likely deport the group because no arrest orders exist in Colombia, while nine adults remain questioned as officials verify legal entry using Colombian immigration rules permitting hotel inspections.
- Given members across multiple countries, Lev Tahor's presence in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala and Israel may prompt international child‑protection and law‑enforcement agencies to cooperate.
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Colombia rescues 17 minors from Jewish cult accused of abuse
The organization, which has been described as the “Jewish Taliban,” was founded in Jerusalem in 1988 by the anti-Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans. By JNS Colombian authorities said on Sunday that they had rescued 17 minors from members of a fundamentalist ultra-Orthodox Jewish cult under investigation for alleged child sex abuse. Guatemalan authorities say Lev Tahor, or “Pure Heart” in Hebrew, engages in child abuse. “We have rescued 17 boys, girls…
Colombia: 17 children rescued from Lev Tahor sect
Colombian immigration authorities have taken 17 minors into protective custody after they were rescued from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor during a hotel inspection in the northwestern city of Yarumal, Antioquia, it was reported on Monday. The group has faced global accusations of child abuse, kidnapping, and human trafficking.
Colombia rescues 17 minors from controversial ultra-Orthodox Jewish group Lev Tahor
Authorities say 5 of rescued children had active Interpol yellow notices, which are issued for missing individuals, especially children at risk of abduction or trafficking - Anadolu Ajansı
Seventeen children have been placed in protective custody, as this sect has been accused in several countries of kidnapping and sexually assaulting minors.
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