Federal and state authorities arrested 38 individuals allegedly linked to the La Luz del Mundo church in the municipality of Vista Hermosa, Michoacán, while they were undergoing weapons training at a clandestine camp.

The raid in Michoacán, which was part of a joint search-and-seizure operation in seven states, was carried out early Tuesday morning by members of the Army, the National Guard, the state Attorney General’s Office and municipal police officers. One of those arrested has been identified as a U.S. citizen.

The Michoacán Security Ministry reported that authorities seized a pistol, tactical equipment, ammunition, bladed weapons and 19 replica guns.

The authorities arrived at a property in the municipality of Vista Hermosa, near the border with the state of Jalisco, believing they were confronting a drug cartel. Neighbors had reported it was a training camp for organized crime, a haunting reminder of the sinister ranch in Teuchitlán, Jalisco, that was used as a training camp by the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).

But what disconcerted the authorities was that the suspects did not identify themselves as cartel hitmen, but as members of the apocalyptic church La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World), whose leader is currently serving a 16-year prison sentence in California. 

Naasón Joaquín García, the controversial leader of the Guadalajara-based church, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing children in 2020, but his legal troubles are far from over.

While his personal militia was being processed in Mexico on Tuesday, Joaquín was in a New York courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy, sex trafficking and child exploitation.

Five alleged accomplices are included in the indictment, including the leader’s mother, Eva García de Joaquín, and his nephew, Joram Núñez Joaquín.

According to the Morelia, Michoacán newspaper Changoonga, the suspects were “dressed in black, with fake weapons, radios and even a homemade bomb simulator, … [and] looked like a commando unit.” 

They told the authorities they were training to be part of the Jahzer Guard, a special force created to protect Joaquín and his immediate family, as well as to protect the faith in the “Final Judgment.” 

Not much has been reported about the Jahzer Guard, but a victim of Joaquín’s abuse told El País the group “participated in the criminal acts of evangelical leaders,” even kidnapping women and holding them in safe houses. 

With reports from El Universal, La Jornada, Sin Embargo and El País