Why has Andrew Tate been arrested in Romania?
Controversial online personality Andrew Tate has been arrested in Romania in connection with rape and human trafficking charges.
Tate was detained with his brother, Tristan, and his home in Bucharest was raided by police.
The pair’s names were not released by the Romanian authorities who said only that two British nationals had been arrested alongside two Romanians. However, a lawyer for the brothers later confirmed their detention.
"The four suspects appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost," prosecutors said about the group.
Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said that six victims had been identified, who they said had been recruited by British nationals who had pretended to want a relationship with the women before forcing them to perform in pornographic material.
Investigations have been ongoing since April when Tate’s house was raided after a tip-off that an American woman was being held there against her will.
Tate was originally known as an international kickboxer but he gained notoriety in 2016 when he was removed from the UK reality TV show Big Brother.
The controversy was related to a video which appeared to show him attacking a woman with a belt. The video was later described as consensual by both parties.
In the following years, Tate began to make a name for himself by associating with far-right figures in the UK and beyond, such as politician Nigel Farage, activist and convicted criminal Stephen Yaxley-Lennon (also known as Tommy Robinson) and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
However, it wasn’t until this year
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