26 Lev Tahor members arrested in Mexico

(JTA) — As the Jewish new year was coming to a close Tuesday afternoon, Mexican Authorities raided a compound on the outskirts of Tapachula, a city on Mexico’s pacific coast about six miles from the Guatemalan border.

There they arrested 26 members of the Lev Tahor Hasidic sect, which has widely been considered a cult around the world.

The members, including a leader, Menachem Endel Alter, were arrested on charges of being part of a criminal organization, along with human trafficking, the Associated Press reported.

The group, whose name means “pure heart” in Hebrew, was founded in 1988 by an I...