Andrew Tate: Romanian police to hold influencer for 30 days

Andrew Tate: Police release raid video after influencer arrested

The online influencer is detained under an investigation into the rape and human trafficking.

A Romanian court has granted a police request to detain controversial influencer Andrew Tate for 30 days.

Tate and his brother Tristan were detained on Thursday as part of an investigation investigating claims of human trafficking and rape.

Authorities accuse the couple, along with two Romanian males, of heading "an organized criminal ring".

The court in Bucharest also arrested Tristan and two others.

Andrew Tate, 36, has yet to respond to the allegations directly.

However, shortly after his arrest, he tweeted a reference to the 1999 film The Matrix.

"The Matrix despatched their operatives," according to the message. Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, also retweeted Matrix memes.

According to their counsel, the two brothers preserved their right to silence throughout the detention hearing.

Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been led away from a police station

Earlier, a police official told the BBC that the 36-year-old will be placed at a "detention facility".

The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Romania published a statement on Thursday night but did not identify the Tate brothers, indicating that two British people and two Romanian citizens were suspected of being part of a human trafficking ring.

Officers had identified six victims who were alleged "sexually exploited" by an "organized criminal gang," according to the statement.

Police stated the victims were "recruited" by British citizens, who they said had misrepresented their desire to get into a relationship with the victims - which it dubbed "the loverboy technique".

According to the statement, they were subsequently compelled to act in pornographic material for fear of assault.