Social media star Andrew Tate was arrested by Romanian police alongside his brother on sex trafficking charges after police were allegedly tipped off to his location by a pizza box.
Tate became the center of media chatter on Tuesday when he got into a viral social media altercation with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, which culminated in Tate releasing a two-minute-long video on Twitter deriding her.
In the video, a cigar-smoking Tate was handed two pizza boxes from off-screen. He then presented them to the camera after promising not to recycle them.
Several outlets, including the Daily Mail, Pop Craze, and Pop Base, reported that it was the pizza boxes from Jerry’s Pizza, a Romanian pizza chain, that tipped authorities off to Tate’s location.
The following day, agents of Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism stormed the brothers’ house and arrested both of them.
The arrest was reported by Antena 3 CNN and Libertatea and was then apparently confirmed by DIICOT in a press release. The brothers were shown being led into custody by DIICOT agents on local TV.
DIICOT didn’t name the Tate brothers in its press release about the raid but mentioned two British citizens targeted in the searches, bringing up a March 2021 case of identical circumstances that Tate was known to be involved in. The house searches were related to human trafficking, rape, and forming an organized criminal group.
INFLUENCER ANDREW TATE KICKED OFF TIKTOK AND INSTAGRAM FOR MISOGYNISTIC COMMENTS
“On 29.12.2022, the prosecutors of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism – Central Structure together with police officers from the Bucharest Organized Crime Brigade implemented 5 home search warrants in a case … [involving] committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, human trafficking, and rape,” DIICOT wrote.
“Victims were recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method). They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where, by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control and invoking alleged debts), they were sexually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform pornographic demonstrations for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms … and … forced labor,” it added.
The release said police have identified six victims targeted by the group so far. The mentioning of five home search warrants indicates that the Tate brothers are suspected of being just two members of a larger organized criminal group. Four people were arrested in the searches and will be held in detention for 24 hours until authorities decide on further actions.
Libertatea reported that criminal files on human trafficking and rape were opened in the brothers’ names.
“We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can,” a spokesman for Tate told the Daily Mirror.
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Tate was also arrested by Romanian police in April on sex trafficking accusations. He was released but investigations continued, Antena 3 CNN reported.
The former kickboxer is known for his bombastic “alpha male” persona and inflammatory comments, particularly regarding women. He became a viral sensation this year, becoming the most googled man on the planet by August, according to Pulse.ug.
