A forensic search for the possible buried remains of stillborn babies at a property in Picton has ended with no arrests.
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Officers executed search warrants at Peppercorn Creek Farm on the Old Hume Highway and a property at Bigga, both of which are linked to the religious sect Twelve Tribes.
The search was part of an investigation into allegations of unreported stillborn children within the group.
A NSW Police media spokeswoman confirmed the Picton operation had concluded but the operation at Bigga was expected to continue through the weekend.
The spokeswoman said no one had been arrested and nothing had been located or seized at Picton.
"At this stage there won't be any updates unless that changes," she said.
Police would not confirm if anything had been found at the Bigga crime scene but more information is expected to be released at the conclusion of the investigation.
Under the Birth, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1995, it is illegal not to report the births of stillborn children.
The Service NSW website states that 'stillbirths are legally required to be registered as births, and will contain a notation of the stillbirth'.
The ongoing investigation is being led by detectives from Blue Mountains Police Area Command with Hume Police District's police rescue unit and officers supporting.
This investigation follows a search warrant that was executed at the Peppercorn Creek Farm property on February 19.
The Twelve Tribes is a registered religious organisation and runs cafes in the Blue Mountains and Picton.
The Picton cafe is called Common Ground.
The sect has been in operation in Australia since the 1990s with members numbering in the hundreds.
The Sydney Morning Herald penned an expose about the organisation in 2013, alleging that its members shun modern medicine.
The Twelve Tribes is a mysterious religious sect currently at the centre of a large-scale police investigation.
The registered Christian organisation has been in Australia since the early 1990s.
However it was originally founded in the United States in 1973 by a former high school guidance counsellor and carnival showman named Eugene Spriggs.
The sect works to serve Master Yahshua, which is the Hebrew name for Jesus and is often likened to Amish communities.
Members of the Twelve Tribes run businesses and farm large parcels of land in Picton, the Blue Mountains and Bigga, NSW.
Their Picton community is located along Remembrance Driveway (Old Hume Highway) and is known as Peppercorn Creek Farm.
The Twelve Tribes' website describe the 'little farm' as an idyllic location for families.
"We have 22 acres in a valley of the Razorback Range, with a beautiful creek winding through it, and peppercorn trees dotted along the water's edge...hence the name Peppercorn Creek Farm," the description reads.
"Eight families, along with a number of single men and women, live here.
"We have many children so our life is busy caring for them.
"We teach them at home, and always have our young ones by our sides helping us with all the many daily living needs.
"They enjoy being involved in what we do and building up our life.
"They know they're necessary."
The Picton tribe also runs popular cafe, Common Ground, located just down the road from Peppercorn Creek Farm.
In the Blue Mountains, the tribe runs the Yellow Deli in Katoomba - which was also formally known as Common Ground.
The restaurants serve a range of signature sandwiches and a range of teas.
However, the sect has been plagued with allegations of physical punishment of children throughout the past few years.
Back in 2013, former Twelve Tribes members Mark and Rosemary Ilich revealed to the Sydney Morning Herald what life was like inside the sect.
They first visited the organisation at Peppercorn Creek Farm and said they "were sold".
The couple said they handed over all of their possessions and the discipline of their children to the Twelve Tribes.
"It's called 'the rod and reproof', " Mr Illich told the Herald.
"The kids are not meant to cry. They're meant to 'receive' their discipline quietly.
"Then you tell them why you hit them and they say, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry.' It becomes a ritual."
The Sydney Morning Herald expose also alleged that Twelve Tribes members shun modern medicine.
Police guard the entrance to the Bigga Road property under a crime scene warrant and owned by Twelve Tribes.
A former leader of the sect told A Current Affair in a report from earlier this year that "members were discouraged from seeking outside medical help, even in cases of serious illness".
