A Philippine pastor wanted in the United States for child sex trafficking has been arrested, officials said Sunday, two weeks into a massive police manhunt.
He has also been charged with human trafficking in a Philippine court.
"Apollo Quiboloy has been arrested," interior secretary Benjamin Abalos said on his official Facebook page without providing further details.
A self-proclaimed "Son of God" and ally of former president Rodrigo Duterte, Quiboloy is the founder of the Philippines-based Kingdom of Jesus Christ church that claims millions of members.
The US Justice Department charged Quiboloy in 2021 with sex-trafficking of girls and women between the ages of 12 and 25 to work as personal assistants, or "pastorals", who were allegedly required to have sex with him.
Brigadier-General Nicolas Torre, the regional police chief who led the manhunt at the sect's headquarters in the southern city of Davao, confirmed the arrest at a press conference.
About 2000 police were deployed at the sect's Davao headquarters on August 24 to serve an arrest warrant against Quiboloy.
The Mercury