‘Toxic’ influencer Andrew Tate is arrested in human trafficking raid at his luxury villa in Romania after PIZZA BOX in his smug video clap-back at Greta Thunberg gave away his location
Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania after police raided his luxury home in connection with a human trafficking investigation.
The prolific social media personality, 36, had his villa searched by police on Thursday, and was detained for 24 hours Romanian outlet Libertatea reported.
Self-described misogynist Tate – who was detained alongside his brother Tristan – will face questioning by the country’s organized crime and terrorism team.
It’s believed that his online spat with Greta Thunberg was the reason he was arrested – after he posed alongside a Romanian pizza box, which may have inadvertently revealed his location to authorities.
A spokesperson for Tate told DailyMail.com: ‘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.’
The US State Department and FBI did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Thursday evening.
Chicago-born Tate has been branded ‘the king of toxic masculinity’ for his online diatribes against women – which have gained him notoriety and millions of followers in the last year.
Andrew Tate’s Eastern European home was also raided in April this year as part of a human trafficking investigation.
He has previously boasted to his followers that ’40 percent’ of the reason he moved to Romania was because the police were less likely to pursue any sexual assault allegations against him.
In a press release on Thursday, DIICOT – Romania’s police, crime, and investigation unit – said that they had raided five homes after obtaining search warrants.
The warrants were issued in connection to an ongoing investigation into an organized criminal group, international human trafficking, and rape.
Victims were ‘recruited by two British citizens’ who were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county, police said. They did not name the suspects.
The women were then subject to ‘physical violence and mental coercion’ and were ‘sexually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform pornographic demonstrations pornographic for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms.’
Police say a total of six victims have so far come forward claiming they were sexually exploited by the organized criminal group.
Cops did not name the men whose homes were raided in Romania.
They said that the four men were taken for questioning on Thursday, and police ordered the suspects to be detained for a period of 24 hours.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, but brought up in Luton, England, Tate has garnered a dubious reputation over his various business activities.
Together with his brother Tristan, he allegedly set up a webcam business in Romania in which young models told sob stories to unsuspecting male viewers.
Despite previously saying that the site was ‘a total scam’, Tate claims to have made millions from it.
Just yesterday, Tate found himself in hot water after getting into a Twitter spat with eco-activist Greta Thunberg.
He called her out – and shared a photo of himself filling up his Bugatti supercar, asking her to send him her email address so he could detail the ‘enormous emissions’ his gas-guzzling performance cars spewed out.
Tate tweeted on Tuesday: ‘Hello Greta Thunberg. I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad-turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and its enormous emissions.’
Miss Thunberg issued a brutal comeback in a tweet to her 4.9million followers yesterday, saying: ‘Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalld***energy@getalife.com.’
Tate had been banned from Twitter since 2017 until Elon Musk allowed him back on the platform last month.
Tate first came to prominence when he appeared on Big Brother in 2016, but was removed from the program after a video surfaced online which appeared to show him attacking a woman with a belt – a clip he claimed had been edited.
Since then, he has gained further notoriety for a string of comments about women, including suggesting that they ‘bear some responsibility’ if they are assaulted – an incident which led to him being banned from Twitter.
This is a breaking news story.
