Former professional kickboxing athlete and controversial internet personality Andrew Tate was detained in Romania on Thursday, along with his brother, Reuters reported.
Romanian prosecutors said in a statement obtained by CBS News that search warrants were issued for several homes Thursday on suspicion that “an organized criminal group” was involved in “human trafficking and rape.”
Prosecutors said the organized crime group formed of four suspects in early 2021 “designed” to traffic people in Romania, the US and the UK “for significant financial gain”.
Six women have been found to have been sexually exploited by an organized crime group, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said two British nationals and two Romanian citizens were detained and taken to law enforcement headquarters in Bucharest. Once they were interrogated, it was decided to keep them in custody for 24 hours, the prosecutor added. No word on what happens to them after that.
Reuters said this and other photos it obtained showed Andrew Tate being escorted out of law enforcement headquarters on Thursday:
INQUAM PHOTO/Octav Ganea/REUTERS
“These four suspects … appear to have created an organized criminal group whose purpose was to recruit, house and exploit women by forcing them to produce pornographic content that they would pay to view on specialized websites,” prosecutors said in a statement said in a statement. Reuters.
Tate and his brother Tristan were among the four detained, prosecutors told Reuters.
Lawyers for the Tate brothers confirmed to Reuters that they are in custody.
Reuters said the two brothers had been under criminal investigation since April.
Born in the US but raised in the UK, Tate is known for spreading hate speech, misogyny and violence.august hey banned Banned from Facebook and Instagram for violating Meta’s policy on dangerous organizations and individuals. He was also banned from posting on YouTube.
In 2017, he was suspended Twitter Saying women are ‘responsible’ for being sexually assaulted is the allegation against disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein is pouring in.He reinstated his identity on Twitter last month Elon Musk Take ownership of the company.
Earlier this week, Tate entered a twitter feud With climate activist Greta Thunberg.
In response to reports of Tate’s arrest, Thunberg tweeted on Friday“This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza box.”