The social networks that divide Andrew Tate arrested in Romania

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Controversial social media personality and former kickboxer Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape, an official said Friday.

Tate, a British citizen who in the past had been banned from social media platforms for expressing misogynistic perspectives and hate speech, was arrested Thursday night along with his British brother Tristan in the Ilfov region, north of the Romanian capital, Bucharest. Two other suspects, who are Romanians, were also in custody.

The four will be detained for 30 days in an investigation after a ruling was handed down on extending their initial detention period for 24 hours, said Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romanian organized crime firm DIICOT. Bolla said the resolution was not final and that the four suspects had already been arrested. He appealed the extension, which is unlikely to be heard in court until next week.

DIICOT said last Thursday that the four suspects in the case had been arrested on club charges in a group of organized criminals, human trafficking and rape.

The firm said British citizens recruited women who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and intellectual coercion,” sexually exploited through members of the organization and forced to perform pornographic acts with the intention of obtaining “significant monetary benefits. “

Photographs published through Romanian media gave the impression of showing Tate being taken away handcuffed by masked law enforcement officers.

DIICOT said it knew of six other people who were sexually exploited through the organized criminal organization and that five homes were searched on Thursday.

On Friday, Andrew Tate, known for his explicit conspiratorial views, tweeted that “The Matrix sent its agents,” without elaborating.

Earlier this week, Tate posted a video on Twitter from a mountainous region of Romania, the Eastern European country where he has reportedly lived for the past few years.

The Tate was also embroiled this week in a war of words with 19-year-old weather activist Greta Thunberg after tweeting a photo of him next to a Bugatti and bragging about owning 33 cars.

Police said 11 luxury cars were found in the raids that belonged to or were used by the suspects.

Video footage of the police raid accompanying the organized crime agency shows several blurry sports cars, wads of money and a gun.

DIICOT’s Bolla refuted widespread media claims that a lid brandished in a pizza box that appeared in a video posted by Andrew Tate on Twitter earlier this week led the government to arrest him. He said the claims are “funny, but no. “

Andrew Tate, a questionable social media personality and former kickboxing boxer, was arrested in Romania on charges of human trafficking and rape, an official said Friday.

The 4 will be detained for 30 days in an investigation after a judgment was issued on extending their initial detention period for 24 hours, said Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romanian organized crime firm DIICOT. Bolla said the ruling was not final and that the 4 suspects have already appealed the extension, which is unlikely to be heard in court until next week.