Leaders of the “Pure Heart” sect who were arrested in Mexico were released from custody on Thursday due to a lack of evidence, it was reported this evening (Saturday) by the BBC. A source involved in the operation against the sect told the BBC that the decision to release the two undermined the “impressive and untainted legal work carried out by the Attorney General’s Office and the police before and during the raid”.
A former Mossad man who participated in the raid on Lev Tahor: “It’s hard to believe they call themselves Jews”
“We will not be able to continue”: the warning of a member of the raid team on the “Pure Heart” cult
Both men have been in custody since the September 23 raid. The lawyer, Yarat Jimenez, told the Spanish news agency Efe that they were “100% acquitted” of the alleged offenses. Jimenez claimed that the accusations against her clients were used as a pretext by the authorities to carry out the raid in order to remove a child from the compound.
As a reminder, yesterday it was reported that a day after the release of the two, about 20 of the detainees escaped from the correctional facility in Mexico. The Associated Press reported that they were picked up by a truck and driven toward the border with Guatemala, while a local news site reported that they walked several miles before disappearing into the night.
Escape from Mexico: Detained “Lev Tahor” followers escaped #crime #news #religion #sect #Leutahorus #ultraorthodoxe #childhandel #had pic.twitter.com/XDLTPMyO3T
— CameraOne News (@cameraone_deu) September 30, 2022
As I recall, the raid was conducted on their compound located approximately 17.5 km from the state of Chiapas, in the southeast of Mexico. The operation was launched after a lengthy investigation and surveillance by the local authorities together with the authorities in Guatemala and a private Israeli investigation team consisting of ex-Mossad and Shin Bet. About 26 members were found in the compound, among them Israelis with dual citizenship.
According to the report, a Canadian and an Israeli citizen were arrested, while two other wanted men left the compound two days before the raid. Five more were arrested on suspicion of violating immigration laws. The sect has been living in Guatemala since 2014, but in January some members crossed illegally into Mexico and settled in the thick of the jungle.