Andrew Tate Appears to Confirm Human Trafficking Arrest – The morning after the Romanian press reported his arrest for suspected human trafficking, controversial kickboxing influencer Andrew Tate posted a cryptic tweet that appeared to confirm his newfound legal trouble.
“The Matrix sent their agents,” Tate tweeted on Friday morning, at 11:30 a.m. Central European Time.
The Matrix sent their agents.
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 30, 2022
Andrew Tate Appears to Confirm Human Trafficking Arrest
According to news reports, the agents in fact worked for Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).
“Andrew and Tristan Tate have been detained for 24 hours,” Romanian news website Libertatea reported in a story updated late Thursday night. “A criminal case was opened on behalf of the two British brothers in which they are being investigated for human trafficking and rape. Andrew and Tristan Tate will be brought before the Bucharest Court on Friday, December 30, with a proposal for preventive arrest for 30 days.”
Video bearing the DIICOT insignia included in the story appears to show law enforcement entering what is presumably the brothers’ residence. The footage also indicates that weapons, including guns and various types of knives and other sharp tools, were seized, along with some cash. A subsequent segment of the video shows blurry footage of what appears to be a collection of cars.
RomaniaTV, a news website, reported that a “former policewoman from Bucharest, who worked for the two millionaire brothers,” was also detained.
On Friday, DIICOT announced that investigators “implemented 5 home search warrants in a case in which investigations under the aspect of committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, human trafficking and rape.”
From the press release, which Law&Crime ran through Google’s translation application:
In the case it was noted that, at the beginning of 2021, 4 suspects (two British citizens and two Romanian citizens) constituted a criminal group organized in order to commit crimes on the territory of Romania, but also of other countries, such as the United States of America and Great Britain, of the crime of human trafficking.
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 demonstrations pornographic for the purpose of producing and disseminating through social media platforms material having such a character and by submitting to the execution of a forced labor[.]
So far, 6 injured persons have been identified who were sexually exploited by the organized criminal group.
With regard to the crime of rape, it was noted that, in March 2022, an injured person was forced, on two different occasions, by a suspect through the exercise of physical violence and psychological pressure to have sexual relations.
According to the announcement, four people were ordered to be detained for 24 hours after questioning. The agency did not identify Tate specifically or any of the suspects in the press release.
Footage of Tate’s arrest went viral on Thursday evening, the day after his Twitter fight with environmental activist Greta Thunberg.
“Hello,” Tate, 36, wrote on Tuesday in a tweet directed at Thunberg, 19. “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 their respective enormous emissions.”
The tweet showed a picture of him appearing to refuel one of those cars at a gas station.
Hello @GretaThunberg
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 their respective enormous emissions. pic.twitter.com/ehhOBDQyYU
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 27, 2022
On Wednesday, Thunburg responded.
“[Y]es, please do enlighten me,” she wrote on Twitter. “[E]mail me at [email protected]”
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at [email protected] https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
The exchange went viral, with both Thunberg and Tate taking criticism from detractors and praise from fans. In response to one Tate supporter who said the influencer and the activist should “stop flirting and just fuck already,” Tate wrote: “She ain’t ready.”
In another Twitter response to Thunberg on Wednesday, Tate posted a two-minute video of himself criticizing the environmental activist. During that video, Tate receives what looks like a delivery box from “Jerry’s Pizza,” a Romanian pizza chain.
Thank you for confirming via your email address that you have a small penis @GretaThunberg
The world was curious.
And I do agree you should get a life ❤️ https://t.co/mHmiKHjDGH pic.twitter.com/SMisajQRcf
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 28, 2022
According to attorney and Harvard Cyberlaw Clinic Instructor Alejandra Caraballo, that pizza delivery may have proven to be Tate’s own undoing.
“Romanian authorities needed proof that Andrew Tate was in the country so they reportedly used his social media posts,” she tweeted on Thursday. “His ridiculous video yesterday featured a pizza from a Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, confirming he was in the country. This is absolutely epic.”
Romanian authorities needed proof that Andrew Tate was in the country so they reportedly used his social media posts. His ridiculous video yesterday featured a pizza from a Romanian pizza chain, Jerry’s Pizza, confirming he was in the country.
This is absolutely epic. pic.twitter.com/kyz4pqegkJ
— Alejandra Caraballo (@Esqueer_) December 29, 2022
Carabello further explained her rationale in a Twitter thread on Friday.
Hello @GretaThunberg
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 their respective enormous emissions. pic.twitter.com/ehhOBDQyYU
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) December 27, 2022
Also on Friday, Thunberg acknowledged that theory in a tweet.
“[T]his is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes,” she wrote.
this is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 30, 2022
DIICOT did not respond to Law&Crime’s email seeking comment.
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