At 95, former Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone detained over undeclared shotgun

Bernie Ecclestone, 95, was detained in Portugal after authorities found a shotgun in his luggage that did not have the documents required to bring it into the country.

The former Formula One chief had arrived at Tires airfield in Cascais on a private flight from Saanen, Switzerland. After customs officers checked one of his bags, they found the weapon and held him while the authorities dealt with the case.

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I had a gun that I was taking from Switzerland to Portugal to practice clay pigeon shooting. It’s as simple as that.

Ecclestone told Daily Mail Sport that he had brought the shotgun from Switzerland because he planned to use it for clay pigeon shooting. “I had a gun that I was taking from Switzerland to Portugal to practice clay pigeon shooting. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

The agents asked whether he had the so-called “blue book,” the document required to transport the weapon. He did not have it with him. “They told me they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours, we sorted it out, although it was a constant nuisance,” Ecclestone said.

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They told me they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours, we sorted it out, although it was a constant nuisance.

It was not his first airport incident involving a firearm. In 2022, Brazilian authorities found an undocumented .32-caliber LW Seecamp pistol in his luggage at Campinas airport. He was released and continued to Switzerland after paying bail of 6,000 reais, while the weapon was confiscated. Ecclestone said he had bought the pistol years earlier from a Formula One mechanic for home protection and dismissed that episode as an “insignificant piece of nonsense.”

Ecclestone led Formula One’s commercial management for nearly four decades, from the late 1970s until January 2017, overseeing the growth of television rights, major sponsorships and the championship’s expansion into new markets.

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Insignificant piece of nonsense.