Andrew Tate Detained in Romania over Rape, Human Trafficking Allegations

Romanian authorities have detained controversial internet star Andrew Tate, along with his brother, in Romania, according to their defense lawyer.

Romanian authorities said police executed search warrants for five homes and detained four suspects on Thursday, including two Britons and two Romanians, as part of an investigation into human trafficking and rape, without naming any of the detainees.

The brothers are expected to appear in court at a later date, Eugene Vedinak, an attorney for Andrew and Tristan Tate told CNN that Andrew Tate is not under arrest and has not been arrested, adding that he will be "held for 24 hours." 

Romania's Department for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) released an edited video, which it said was of the raids. A man can be seen being held by police, but it is unclear who is in the video.

In a separate video broadcast by CNN's Romanian channel Antena 3, officers of the Crime and Terrorism Investigation Directorate can be seen escorting Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate in police cars.

On Friday, Andrew Tate tweeted from his verified account: "The Matrix sent their clients."

DIICOT said that the four suspects, whose names were not disclosed, formed an organized criminal group, which stretched from Romania to Britain and the United States, with the aim of committing the crime of human trafficking.

The authorities stated that two suspects misled the victims "that they intended to enter into a marriage and cohabitation with them", while transporting the victims to Romania and then exploiting them sexually, with physical violence.

The authorities also said that one of the suspects raped a victim on two separate occasions in March 2022. They reported that at least 6 victims were sexually exploited by an organized criminal group, the DIICOT statement said.

The statement added that the four suspects will be held for 24 hours after being questioned.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer, is known for his vitriolic statements online about male dominance, female subjugation and wealth, and has publicly advocated violence against women. He was previously banned from all major social media platforms until Elon Musk reinstated his account on Twitter, after acquiring the company.

Also, before removing his TikTok account, he achieved about 11.6 billion views.

Andrew Tate made headlines this week over his Twitter controversy with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who asked Tate to "get a life" in her mockery of the lack of value in his life, after he tweeted about his many cars and its massive carbon emissions.