Controversial media personality Andrew Tate has been detained on suspicion of multiple crimes, a spokesperson for Romania's Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) confirmed to the Associated Press.
While Andrew, a former kickboxer, and his brother Tristan were initially detained on Dec. 29 for 24 hours, prosecutors asked the Bucharest court on Dec. 30 to extend the arrest warrant to 30 days, the spokesperson—Ramona Bolla—told the AP. Bolla noted a decision should be reached later that day.
A statement from DIICOT said that four suspects (two British citizens and two Romanian citizens) had been detained. The agency noted the detainment came after DIICOT and police from the Bucharest Organized Crime Brigade implemented five home search warrants in an investigation of human trafficking, rape and creating an organized criminal group. Prosecutors alleged in the statement that six people have been sexually exploited by the organized group.
The four individuals "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 alleged in a statement obtained by Reuters. "They would have gained important sums of money."
Neither Andrew nor Tristan was named in the statement. However, a lawyer for the Tate brothers confirmed their detainment to NBC News. The outlet also obtained a video released by police that showed the brothers' detainment.
E! News has reached out to Andrew's rep but hasn't received a comment. However, in a statement to DailyMail.com, a Tate spokesman said, "We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can."
Andrew also tweeted on Dec. 30, "The Matrix sent their agents."
The news comes one day after Andrew, 36, responded on Twitter to a message from climate activist Greta Thunberg. In response to Andrew's tweet that he has 33 cars with "enormous emissions," Greta asked him to "enlighten me" about their pollution and "email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com."
On Dec. 28, Andrew tweeted back a video of himself in a robe while smoking a cigar, at one point asking someone offscreen, "Please bring me pizza and make sure that these boxes are not recycled." He added that his exchange with Greta will make his Twitter account—which has 3.5 million followers—"far more fun into eternity."
Greta seemingly reacted to the detainment news by tweeting, "This is what happens when you don't recycle your pizza boxes." However, Bolla later shut down speculation that an address featured on the pizza box led to Andrew's detainment, with her telling the Associated Press the idea was "funny but no."
According to his website linked in his verified Twitter bio, Andrew says of himself, "I grew up broke and now I am a multi millionaire. I teach the deserving the secrets to modern wealth creation."