Former Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone was stopped by police at a Portuguese airport on Monday, September 7, after illegally bringing a shotgun into the country, marking the second time in four years the 95-year-old has been detained over a firearm.
Ecclestone arrived at the Tires Aerodrome near Cascais, some 20 miles away from Lisbon, via his private jet from Switzerland, when customs and police officers quizzed him about the firearm. Although there were reports from Portuguese media of his arrest, Ecclestone strongly rejected the allegations, referring to the situation as “wall-to-wall aggravation” that “lasted what seemed like hours.”
He told: “I had a gun that I was bringing over from Switzerland to Portugal for clay-pigeon shooting. It’s as simple as that. I have guns at home there that are licensed.”
The former F1 supremo added that he made it through customs without any problems but was subsequently questioned by the police, who asked to search his luggage. They wanted him to show a “blue book” or the document required to import firearms, which Ecclestone had never heard about before. His wife, Fabiana, flew down to Lisbon to either hand over the gun or receive the permit.
“They said they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours, we sorted it out,” he added. His wife, Fabiana, travelled to Lisbon to either surrender the gun or obtain the necessary permit.
However, this is not the first time Ecclestone faced such problems with firearms. In 2022, he was arrested in Brazil because of possessing an undocumented pistol while getting aboard a private aeroplane. He managed to pay bail and be released.
Ecclestone, who was in charge of running Formula One for almost 40 years before Liberty Media bought the sport in 2017, has just acquired a £35m property in the Cascais region.
2026-09-07 22:00:00
