Lev Tahor Leader Extradited to Mexico, Will Stand Trial

A senior member of the Lev Tahor cult has been extradited to Mexico on suspicion of human trafficking.

Yoel Alter is accused of removing children from their communities and organizing forced marriages between minors and adults within the cult. Authorities said the investigation identified the Mexican state of Chiapas as a central area of the group’s activities.

After the dismantling of the cult and failed attempts to reestablish it, Guatemalan authorities extradited a man identified as one of Lev Tahor’s leaders, a dual Israeli and Romanian citizen, to Mexico. He now faces trial on charges related to organized crime and human trafficking, including allegations of forced marriages involving minors.

Mexican officials said Alter was transferred into Mexican custody and brought before a federal judge in the southern state of Chiapas. The judge ordered him held in detention pending a review of his legal status.

According to Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office, Alter is accused of participating in a criminal organization that removed children from their families and arranged forced marriages between minors and adults within the cult. Investigators said Chiapas was identified as a key hub of the organization’s operations.

The group frequently crossed international borders, including Israel, the United States, Guatemala, and Mexico, in order to evade law enforcement scrutiny. Mexican authorities have previously removed children from Lev Tahor compounds as part of ongoing criminal investigations.

Alter’s defense team requested additional time before a formal ruling on the charges. A court hearing is expected to take place in the coming days.

Alter was arrested in Guatemala on January 24, 2025, at the request of the Mexican government. On October 14, 2025, he definitively lost his extradition appeal. Authorities in both countries agreed that the transfer would take place at Mexico City International Airport, but the Attorney General’s Office stated in a press release that it ultimately occurred in Chiapas.

Guatemalan authorities emphasized that the alleged crimes are not subject to a statute of limitations until 2052. As recently as last November, Colombian authorities, in a joint operation with immigration officials, rescued at least 17 minors linked to the cult from a hotel in Yarumal, Antioquia. Five of those minors, from the United States, Canada, and Guatemala, were the subject of international arrest warrants issued by Interpol on charges of kidnapping and human trafficking.