MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lev Tahor sect members expelled from Colombia

Had Lev Tahor settled in Colombia, authorities would have needed a search warrant, Arriero noted

The Colombian government on Monday expelled nine adult members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor and placed 17 minors associated with the group into the protective custody of US authorities, following an international alert regarding the safety of the children.

The group, which arrived in Colombia in late October, was located on November 22 during a joint raid by Migración Colombia (Colombia’s migration agency), the National Police, and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF) at a hotel in Yarumal, Antioquia.

The operation was prompted by an Interpol Yellow Notice and an anonymous complaint, which flagged five of the children —holding US and Guatemalan passports— as being at risk due to irregularities. All 26 people spent a week at a Migración facility in Medellín before being flown to New York on Monday.

The sect, known internationally for its extreme practices and continuous relocation, is believed to have been actively searching for a rural property in Colombia to establish a new compound.

“The positive thing in all of this is that we got to the children before they had a compound. Because in that case, we would have required a search warrant,” Migración Colombia Director Gloria Esperanza Arriero noted. She also emphasized that the intervention prevented the group from settling and continuing “alleged irregular activities.”

Colombian welfare teams determined that several of the adults accompanying the children did not have legal custody in the US, despite being family members, which added to the sect's child abuse record of kidnapping, forced marriage, and human trafficking in countries like Canada, Guatemala, and Mexico.

In New York, the minors were placed under the care of Child Protective Services (CPS), whereas the adults were turned over to US authorities, who will assess their legal status.

Colombian Jewish community leader Marcos Peckel publicly praised the operation, stating he hoped the “sect does not establish itself in Colombia” and noting that Lev Tahor was ”contrary to Jewish law and traditions.”