Guatemalan authorities targeted the Lev Tahor cult in a raid in the last 24 hours after receiving reports of alleged crimes of human trafficking through forced marriages and abuse of minors.

Agents of the Special Forces of the National Civil Police (PNC), with the support of the Ministry of Interior and the Attorney General’s Office, conducted a raid in the town of Oratorio in Santa Rosa.

During the raid, two underage couples, ages 15 to 17, from the Lev Tahor cult, were rescued, and evidence was seized. In addition, several non-Jews were arrested, including a Nicaraguan national who was caught and detained in the middle of an attempted murder.

In disturbing news, investigators also discovered the skeleton of a one-year-old child buried in a wooden box.

The four teens were transferred to the care of special staff from the Public Complaints Commissioner for Children and Youth. Teens are not forced to remain in the welfare facility they were transferred to after the major police raid on the Lev Tahor cult in December 2024, but all minors are traced via a child abduction alert system (similar to the Amber alert system in the US).

The police raid was carried out after receiving reports that adult Lev Tahor members had forced the teens to marry.

In December 2024, the authorities in Guatemala raided the Lev Tahor cult compound located in San Rosa, about 90 kilometers from the Guatemalan capital, following reports of abuse, and rescued at least 160 minors.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)