95-year-old former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone caught with shotgun in Portugal, four years after Brazil gun incident

Bernie Ecclestone has denied that he was arrested after a shotgun was found in his luggage when he landed in Portugal, insisting he was instead questioned by police and later surrendered the weapon because he did not have the required paperwork.The 95-year-old former Formula One chief executive had arrived at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais, around 20 miles outside Lisbon, on a private jet from Switzerland when the incident occurred on Monday.Portuguese reports initially claimed Ecclestone had been arrested during a routine airport operation after authorities discovered he was carrying an unlicensed shotgun.But Ecclestone has disputed that account, telling the Press Association (PA) that he spoke with customs officials and four police officers for around an hour before the matter was resolved.Ecclestone says shotgun was for clay pigeon shootingEcclestone said he had brought the shotgun from Switzerland because he had been invited to take part in a clay pigeon shooting competition in Portugal.He explained to PA that his wife, Fabiana Flosi, had heard about the event after meeting someone returning from Brazil to Portugal.'So she called me and said, 'There is something here you should go and look at. Why don't you turn up and join?' And I said, 'Well, that wouldn't be a bad idea'.'Ecclestone said he already had guns legally imported into Switzerland because he and his wife do some clay pigeon shooting there, and he therefore brought the firearm with him to Portugal.'I went through customs and the people know me very well. They said, 'Anything to declare?' I said, 'No, nothing really, just all the usual personal things'.'According to Ecclestone, one of his companions then told him that police wanted to speak with him.When officers asked about the gun, Ecclestone said he explained that it was a shotgun intended for the shooting competition.The officers then asked him for the gun's 'blue book', which they described as mandatory documentation for transporting the firearm.'I said, 'I don't know, I have never heard about a blue book in my life',' Ecclestone told PA.He said officers also took his passport and told him that, without the required documentation, they considered what he had done an attempt to import a gun into Portugal.'I said, 'I have not tried to do that. I have come through customs, and here I am with you'.'Ecclestone said the matter was eventually taken back to customs, where he was told he would have to surrender the shotgun in Lisbon while authorities dealt with its import status.'So I said, 'Well we'd better do that'.'He insisted there was no deliberate attempt to break Portuguese law.Dismissing suggestions that he had been arrested, Ecclestone told PA: 'No. The police were very helpful and doing all they could to stop us from having to do what we had to do.'He gave a similar account to the Daily Mail, saying: 'I had a gun that I was bringing over from Switzerland to Portugal for clay pigeon shooting. It is as simple as that. I have guns at home there that are licensed.'Ecclestone said customs initially allowed him through before a policeman asked to search his bag.'It could have been Ace fishing tackle for all it looked like, but it was not,' he said.He added that the police eventually told him they would arrest him over the missing documentation, although the matter was resolved after what he described as hours of aggravation.Ecclestone said Fabiana later travelled to Lisbon to surrender the weapon and pay the required fees.Ecclestone has faced a similar airport incident beforeThe Portuguese episode comes four years after Ecclestone was involved in another airport firearms incident in Brazil.In May 2022, Brazilian federal police detained him at Viracopos International Airport in Campinas after discovering an undocumented LW Seecamp .32 handgun in his luggage while he was preparing to board a private jet to Switzerland.Ecclestone admitted at the time that he was carrying the weapon, but said he had not realised it was in his luggage.He was released after paying 6,000 Brazilian reals, around £1,000, and was allowed to continue his journey to Switzerland.Ecclestone later described that incident as a 'silly, tiny little incident', saying it had caused considerable aggravation as he attempted to return to Europe with his family.He also denied that he had been formally arrested, despite Brazilian authorities confirming that an unnamed businessman had been arrested for possession of a firearm at Campinas airport.Ecclestone subsequently explained that he had bought the pocket pistol from a Formula One mechanic in Brazil years earlier, without ammunition, and had kept it as a deterrent.It remains unclear from the supplied reports whether Ecclestone will face any charge or be required to appear before a judge.The former F1 boss has homes in Switzerland and Portugal, as well as Brazil, and has retained strong ties to the country after helping bring Formula One back to Portugal in 1984.