QUITO, May 20, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Police in Ecuador rescued six foreign minors who were victims of a human trafficking network allegedly linked to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor, the interior ministry reported Tuesday.

The Lev Tahor sect, which practices a form of Judaism in which women wear black tunics covering them from head to toe, has been the subject of investigations for the mistreatment of minors in several countries, including Mexico, Canada, Colombia and Guatemala.

In December, Colombia expelled nine members of the sect accused of child sexual abuse after rescuing 17 minors.

The operation in Ecuador took place in the central province of Santo Domingo de los Tsachilas.

"The minors were found in a building lacking adequate humane conditions," the ministry said in a statement, along with a video showing the minors covered with long black veils.

The government did not give the nationalities of the victims but they were flown to the United States.

The interior ministry said the sect was suspected of human trafficking and forced exploitation.

In December 2024, 160 children held captive by Lev Tahor were rescued in Guatemala.

Several of its members were arrested and charged with trafficking, forced pregnancy, and arranged marriages involving minors.