He'll be back — but probably not to Germany in a hurry.
Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was briefly held at an airport in Munich for allegedly failing to declare an expensive watch that he was planning to auction for charity, according to German media.
The Terminator actor, and former governor of California, 76, was held by authorities in the customs area of the airport on Wednesday afternoon (local time) after arriving in Germany from the US, according to the German newspaper Bild.
German authorities found an "unregistered" Audemars Piguet wristwatch in luggage belonging to Austrian-born Schwarzenegger, the newspaper reports. Schwarzenegger told authorities the luxury timepiece was due to be auctioned at a fundraising dinner for Schwarzenegger's climate initiative in the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel on Thursday.
A representative for the Munich customs office told the newspaper: "We have initiated criminal tax proceedings. The watch should have been registered because it is an import."
The spokesperson added: "If the goods remain in the EU, you have to pay tax and duty on them. That applies to everyone."
Schwarzenegger's spokesperson Daniel Ketchell, who was on the flight with the star, told The Washington Post that Schwarzenegger was held for three hours.
"He was detained for three hours. He owns the watch. None of the people I know and sat next to on our commercial flight filled out a declaration form, including Arnold — he got to customs, and they told him he was 'randomly' selected to be searched," Ketchell said.
"During the search, he answered every single question the customs officer asked, so to say he didn't declare anything is 100 percent false.
"All is well now, and we look forward to a successful charity event for the Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative tomorrow [Thursday]," Ketchell said.
"Lawyers are dealing with it. We don't expect any issues because Arnold always pays his taxes."
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