Mexican officials broke up a bizarre cult that allegedly ran a sex slavery ring among its followers on the US border, Mexican immigration authorities said on Tuesday.
The Defensores de Cristo, or Defenders of Christ, allegedly recruited women to have sex with a Spanish man who claimed he was the reincarnation of Christ, said an immigration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
Followers were subjected to forced labor or sexual services, including prostitution, said a victims’ advocacy group that says it filed a complaint about the cult more than a year ago.
Federal police, Mexican National Immigration Institute agents and prosecutors raided a house earlier this week near Nuevo Laredo, across the border from Laredo, Texas, and found cult members — including children — living in filthy conditions, an institute official said.
The institute said in a statement that 14 foreigners were detained in the raid and have been turned over to prosecutors, pending possible charges. Those detained include six Spaniards, and two people each from Brazil, Bolivia and Venezuela. One Argentine and one Ecuadoran were also detained. The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that its citizens were among those arrested.
The institute said 10 Mexicans were also found at the house — mainly women — and are presumably among the victims of the cult.
The Mexican Attorney General’s Office said an investigation was still under way to determine what charges, if any, might apply in the case. Given the binds of sect loyalty that had been built over an estimated three years, prosecutors were still trying to work out which of the detainees may be considered victims and which were abusers.
The institute statement said the sect’s leaders made members pay “tithes,” with money or forced labor.
The institute said in a statement that the Defenders of Christ was headed by Venezuelan Jose Arenas Losanger Segovia.
However, the cult’s Web site says that the leader was Spaniard Ignacio Gonzalez de Arriba. He set up shop in Mexico about three years ago, after a stint in Brazil and other parts of South America, said Myrna Garcia from the Support Network for Cult Victims who has worked with victims of the cult.
Gonzalez de Arriba became involved in offering courses on “bio-programming,” an esoteric practice that claims to allow practitioners to reprogram their brains to eliminate pain, suffering and anxiety, the institute said.
Neither Gonzalez de Arriba nor Losanger Segovia could be reached for comment on Tuesday. A number listed in an advertisement for the bio-programming courses was disconnected. It was not clear if they were among those detained.
The cult thrived in an area of Mexico that is tightly controlled by the violent Zetas drug cartel.
The Mexican Department of the Interior said that the Defenders of Christ are not registered as a religious group, as required under Mexican law. Garcia said cells of the cult might still be active in Peru and Argentina.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS