(Adnkronos) – The Guatemalan Public Prosecutor’s Office has announced the arrest in El Salvador of the leader of the Jewish sect Lev Tahor, Jonathan Emmanuel Cardona Castillo, days after Interpol issued an international red alert, on charges of human trafficking, forced pregnancy and rape and abuse of minors. According to the prosecutor Juan Francisco Reyes, the procedure has been initiated to allow the extradition of the detainee to Guatemala, where he will be brought to justice.
The agency reported that four teenagers have filed complaints, including one for rape. For this reason, the National Institute of Forensic Sciences has provided expert opinions on the possible commission of abuse. In the Interpol file, Cardona is identified as a 23-year-old man born in La Libertad, El Salvador, in April 2001. Of Salvadoran and Guatemalan nationality, he speaks Spanish and Hebrew.
In mid-December, Guatemalan security forces rescued 160 minors on a property in San Rosa, about 90 kilometers from Guatemala City, after several reports of alleged abuse. Investigators also found several bones in a box. Two days after the operation, a group from the sect raided the government protection center where the minors had been taken and kidnapped them, although authorities later recovered them. The faithful clashed with the police and managed to break through the security cordon that had been placed around the center.
