Romania has detained divisive influencer Andrew Tate on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and creating an organized crime faction, prosecutors said Thursday.
The former professional kickboxer has been banned from various social media outlets for misogynistic comments and spreading hate speech.
Along with his brother Tristan, Andrew Tate is set to be kept in detention for 24 hours alongside two Romanian suspects, prosecutors from the anti-organized crime unit said in a statement. This came after their properties were raided, prosecutors added.
The siblings have been probed for criminal activities since April of this year.
The British nationals declined to comment but their lawyer confirmed they had been detained.
'Exploiting women'
"The four suspects ... appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost," prosecutors said.
"They would have gained important sums of money."
Prosecutors said they had found six women who had been sexually exploited by the suspects.
Tate has previously claimed women should bear some responsibility for being sexually exploited and that women belong to men.
Earlier this week, Tate was mocked by climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter after he had tagged her and boasted that he owned 33 cars with "enormous emissions."