Former Formula One chief Ecclestone detained in Portugal over shotgun aboard private jet

On Monday, former Formula 1 chief Bernie Ecclestone was detained at an airport in Portugal after police discovered that he had brought a shotgun into the country on his private plane without the necessary permits, UNN reports, citing Reuters.

In a telephone conversation with Reuters from Portugal, 95-year-old Ecclestone said he had brought the shotgun from Switzerland to take part in a clay shooting competition, but did not have the necessary document (the so-called "blue book") to import it.

Ecclestone said he had landed with his wife, Fabiana — vice president for sporting affairs at Formula 1's governing body — at Tires Airport, located near the resort town of Cascais outside Lisbon.

"All that happened was that I brought into the country a shotgun that I had used in Switzerland for clay shooting, so that I could shoot in Portugal — where a demonstration event was taking place this weekend," he explained.

Ecclestone, who does not speak Portuguese, said he passed through customs, but police then asked about the shotgun and demanded the documents, which led to "unnecessary nervousness." As a result, his wife, who was born in Brazil, went to Lisbon accompanied by a customs officer to hand the weapon over to the authorities.

"So now we've been through all this, and the shotgun is with the authorities in Lisbon," he said. "I signed the necessary documents, as they required me to do."

Portuguese newspapers were the first to report the incident, citing police sources; it was reported that the shotgun had been discovered by the authorities during a routine inspection.

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Ecclestone — a former racing driver who ran the commercial side of the sport for around 40 years (until he was removed from his post in 2017) — has a home in a nearby resort area.

The case recalled another incident involving the Briton related to an unregistered weapon: in 2022, he was briefly detained in Brazil for attempting to take a small pistol aboard a private plane departing for Switzerland.

At the time, Ecclestone acknowledged that the weapon belonged to him, but said he was unaware it was in his luggage, calling the incident "stupid" and "insignificant".