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Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate have been arrested in Romania on suspicion of human trafficking. The arrest of the former kickboxer and his brother was confirmed by their lawyer. The brothers have been under investigation since April 2022, along with two Romanian nationals, by the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in Romania.
A video circulating on social media shows Tate and his brother being taken away from their luxury mansion by police officers, and a video of the police search of the house was also published, showing guns, ammunition, knives and money.
"The four suspects ... appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create po*nographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost.
They would have gained important sums of money." prosecutors said to Reuters.
Tate Accused of Promoting Misogyny
Andrew Tate gained notoriety in 2016 when he was ejected from the British reality show Big Brother due to a video showing him assaulting a woman.
He claimed the video was staged and called it fake, but was still banned from Twitter and other social media platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok for promoting misogyny and stating that women should be held accountable for se*ual assault.
Despite this, he was recently allowed to return to Twitter, along with former United States President Donald Trump. Tate's posts on other online sites have been viewed in the millions and have been described as promoting misogyny.
The BBC's disinformation and social media correspondent, Marijana Spring, has said that his content could have a negative impact in the real world. In the past, Andrew and Tristan, a British-born Americans, were a renowned kickboxers and won many world titles before they became very popular. He moved to Romania five years ago.