Interpol issues arrest warrant for Lev Tahor leader

(JNS) Interpol has issued an international arrest warrant for a leader of the Lev Tahor Jewish cult.

Jonathan Emmanuel Cardona Castillo, 23, is wanted by Guatemala on charges including human trafficking, rape and abuse of minors, the international police organization said in a Red Notice.

Cardona Castillo is a citizen of Guatemala and El Salvador, and speaks Hebrew and Spanish, according to the notice. He is described as being 5.6 feet tall, weighs about 190 pounds and has black hair and black eyes.

Lev Tahor, or “Pure Heart” in Hebrew, is a fundamentalist Jewish cult that Guatemalan authorities say engages in child sexual abuse, pedophilia and rape.

The organization, which has been described as the “Jewish Taliban,” was founded in Jerusalem in 1988 by the anti-Zionist Rabbi Shlomo Helbrans. Its members moved from Israel to the U.S. and back before heading to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico, often fleeing child welfare agencies. They have also stayed in several Eastern European countries as well as Turkey for shorter periods. The cult follows an extreme fundamentalist form of Jewish practice including head to toe black coverings for girls and women from the age of three.

Cardona Castillo has been identified by police and prosecutors as a leader of the group, which has about 200-300 members.

Earlier this month, Guatemalan authorities raided the compound of the radical ultra-Orthodox sect, taking at least 160 minors into protective custody amid allegations of abuse.