Schwarzenegger Held At Munich Airport Over Luxury Watch

Arnold Schwarzenegger was briefly held by customs officers at Munich airport after allegedly failing to declare a €26,000 (£22,000) Audemars Piguet watch the Terminator star was planning to sell at an auction in aid of his climate crisis charity, The Guardian reported.

Schwarzenegger said he tried to tell officials that the watch was being donated to his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative. I Photo: Arnold Schwarzenegger Facebook

The Austrian-born actor and former governor of California, 76, was stopped at the airport for about three hours upon arrival from Los Angeles, according to the German tabloid Bild, which quoted customs officials.

He was taken aside by officers who searched his luggage and found the watch, which the actor had allegedly not declared on his arrivals customs form.

Schwarzenegger said he tried to tell officials that the watch was being donated to his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative and is due to be auctioned off at an event in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel on Thursday night.

“This is the problem that Germany is suffering from. You can no longer see the forest for the trees,” he told Bild. Officials charged Schwarzenegger €35,000, including €4,000 in tax and a €5,000 penalty, according to Bild.

The actor is said to have offered to pay the charge with his credit card, but German customs rules require half of the charge to be paid in cash. Customs officials are said to have accompanied Schwarzenegger to a bank to withdraw cash before he was allowed to continue his journey.

WEEKLY FEATURE : Jose Mari Chan And The Christmas Anthem