Last year, 160 minors held captive in Guatemala were also freed.

On Sunday, Colombian authorities rescued 17 children in the town of Yarumal, in the department of Antioquia, where they were being held captive by the Lev Tahor Orthodox Jewish sect. Interpol had been actively searching for five of those children, who were U.S. citizens.

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The operation was carried out by the Army’s anti-kidnapping unit, Colombian Immigration, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF). They verified the immigration status of 26 people, including the minors from Guatemala, the United States, and Canada.

Colombian Immigration Director Gloria Arriero informed that there were international alerts regarding crimes against minors linked to the Lev Tahor community. She indicated that some children may have been abducted under the guise of religious doctrine.

Seven families entered Colombia on October 22 and 23, from New York, seeking to establish a new colony in the country to continue alleged illegal activities. According to authorities, they were attempting to evade restrictions imposed in other nations.

This rescue adds to a 2024 case, where 160 minors were freed in Guatemala, and Lev Tahor followers were accused of human trafficking, forced pregnancy, and child marriage. Since then, they have also faced legal issues in Mexico and Canada.

The text reads, “There are international alerts regarding crimes against minors associated with this community. The children were transferred to the Migrant Services Facilitation Center in Medellin, accompanied by the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) and family advocates.”

After the arrest of the Jewish sect’s founder, Shlomo Helbrans, in 1994, also on kidnapping charges, the group began moving from country to country to avoid intervention by the authorities and thus ended up in Latin American countries.

In Israel, they are known as the “Jewish Taliban” for their extremely conservative interpretation of Halakha, the Jewish law. The name of the sect in Hebrew means “pure heart,” and was founded in 1988 by Helbrans, who was a member of the Haredi, an ultra-Orthodox sect.

The Lev Tahor lifestyle is characterized by near-total isolation from modern technology, restricting the use of televisions, computers, and mobile phones. They reinforce strict communal control that limits interaction with the outside world, helping them to execute illegal acts.

Jonathan Cardona, the current leader, was born in El Salvador and was arrested in January 2025 in Ahuachapan, Guatemala. He is accused of human trafficking, forced pregnancy, rape, and child abuse.

teleSUR: JP

Source: DW – Clarin

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