A federal judge formally charged Yoel Alter, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Lev Tahor sect, with organized crime for the purpose of human trafficking, specifically forced marriages.
Ulises Lara López, Special Prosecutor for the Investigation of Relevant Matters and spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), stated that the sect operates primarily in Israel, New York, Guatemala, and Mexico, and abducts minors from their homes to force them into marriage with adults within the group.
He added that the Public Prosecutor assigned to the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Organized Crime (FEMDO) of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) presented the evidence to support the charges against Alter for his alleged involvement in the aforementioned crime.
“After formally charging him, the judicial authority upheld the pretrial detention order for this individual at the State Social Reintegration Center in Tapachula, Chiapas. The judge also granted two months for further investigation,” the statement noted.
It should be mentioned that this individual was arrested in December 2025 in Chiapas, after being extradited from Guatemala.
Federal authorities have indicated that the aforementioned sect was founded in Jerusalem in 1988 and has faced numerous accusations of child abuse, pedophilia, kidnapping, and child neglect.
This has forced its members to constantly change locations to avoid law enforcement intervention.
In the various countries where the sect has operated, several arrests of its leaders and the rescue of minors have been achieved, they explained.
