Arnold Schwarzenegger Was Stopped at an Airport Terminal for an Undeclared Audemars Piguet Watch

Celebrity and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained in an airport in Germany after reportedly failing to declare an item upon arrival to Germany, according to a Munich Customs press officer in a report published by CNN. 

“He did not declare a product,” CNN quoted press officer Thomas Meister as saying. “A product that was imported from non-EU countries in order to remain in the EU. And this process applies to everyone.”

Meister said the movie star was eventually released and traveled on after being held for a few hours. “Arnold was detained for three hours today at Munich airport for traveling with a watch he owns, that he might be auctioning at his charity auction tomorrow in Kitzbuhel (in Austria),” a source close to the actor told CNN.

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The incident apparently started when it was discovered that the actor and former politician failed to declare an Audemars Piguet watch in his possession, although CNN sources said that Schwarzenegger was never asked to fill out a declaration form. Schwarzenegger reportedly answered “every question from customs officers honestly.” CNN’s source added that he cooperated at every step even though it was “an incompetent shakedown, a total comedy of errors that would make a very funny cop movie.”

According to watch publication Hodinkee, Schwarzenegger was en route to Austria where his climate charity was hosting an auction at the Austrian World Summit. The watch is a one-off that was specially made for the Austrian-born actor.

In the end, Schwarzenegger agreed to pre-pay potential taxes on the watch, although the officers reportedly were unable to make a credit card machine work for an hour. The report said officials escorted Schwarzenegger to a bank and asked him to withdraw cash from an ATM to pay. However, the ATM exceeded the limited and it was at a time that the bank was already closed, sources said. But using a new credit card machine, the swipe finally worked.

We like to think the actor bid his detainers goodbye with, “Hasta la vista, Baby!”