an empty baggage claim area at an airport

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Ecclestone Surrenders Shotgun After Portugal Airport Stop

curiousSep 9, 2026·354 words·3 min read

Bernie Ecclestone, the 95-year-old British businessman who ran Formula One motor racing for almost four decades, was stopped by police and customs officials at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais, near Lisbon, after flying in from Switzerland on Monday. Ecclestone had brought a shotgun with him, which he said he intended to use in a clay-pigeon shooting competition.

Ecclestone said he had taken the same gun from England to Switzerland with no problem. He owns legal guns in Portugal. Customs let him through, he said, and then a police officer asked to look in his bag. The officers wanted a "blue book", the official document you need to import a weapon. Ecclestone said he never travels with papers like that. Reports do not agree about what happened next. Portuguese media said he was arrested, but Ecclestone denied this and said the police were "very helpful".

His wife, Fabiana Flosi, went to Lisbon to hand over the gun or pay the tax to bring it in legally. It is not the first time. In 2022, police in Brazil arrested him for illegally carrying a gun onto a private plane.

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