US, Guatemalan forces raid extremist Lev Tahor cult compound

US and local Guatemalan police have begun raiding the compound of the extremist ultra-Orthodox (haredi) cult, Lev Tahor, arresting at least three top officials in the cult, Globes reported on Tuesday evening.

Another reporter for Globes reported that cult-members Yoel and Shmuel Weingarten have been arrested.

US and Guatemalan forces have performed several raids on the cult's leaders and members in recent years, mainly for kidnapping and child abuse charges, arresting their leader Yaakov Weinstein last March. In 2019, four members were indicted for kidnapping two children whose mother had taken them, wanting to return the children to Lev Tahor.

The sect has been accused of forcing girls as young as 12 years old into marriages with much older men within the sect.

Founded in New York in the late 80's, Lev Tahor settled in Canada in 2003. The group's founder Slomo Helbrans was convicted for kidnapping a child he was tutoring in the early 90's in New York, but released after only two years in prison.

After being deported to Israel in 2000, Helbrans took his movement to Canada in 2003 where the cult remained for 10 years before rousing the interest of Canadian authorities, after which they collectively fled to Guatemala.

Shlomo Helbrans drowned in Mexico in 2017, leaving control of the group in the hands of his son Nachman and some associates who are believed to be even more extremist.