[News] Controversial internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother detained in Romania

[OdiNn]

By Duarte Mendonca, Philip Wang and Jessie Yeung, CNN
Updated 12:17 PM EST, Fri December 30, 2022

 

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate (background) are escorted by police officers in Bucharest on Thursday.

CNN
 — 
Controversial internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother were detained in Romania on Thursday, according to their defense lawyer.

Authorities in Romania said police served search warrants at five homes and detained four suspects, — – two Britons and two Romanians – as part of an investigation into organized human trafficking and rape. They did not name any of those detained.

Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said the four suspects had been detained for an initial 24 hours. It asked a Bucharest court on Friday for the detentions to be extended to 30 days, according to Reuters.

A lawyer for Andrew and his brother Tristan Tate confirmed to CNN that a court hearing was scheduled for Friday. He stressed that Andrew Tate was not under arrest. “He was not arrested. He was detained for 24 hours,” said the lawyer, Eugen Vidineac.

The attorney did not discuss any of the allegations.

DIICOT released an edited, grainy, sometimes out-of-focus video purportedly showing the raids. A man can be seen being patted down by police. It’s unclear who is being detained in the video.