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Former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly been arrested at a Portuguese aerodrome for illegally carrying a shotgun.
The 95-year-old is said to have been held at Tires Aerodrome in the municipality of Cascais close to Lisbon after landing there in his private jet.
Airport police belonging to Portugal's PSP force are understood to have made the arrest during a 'routine operation'.
The weapon Ecclestone was allegedly carrying has been described locally as a shotgun.
He was arrested in May 2022 in Brazil for illegally carrying a gun while boarding a private plane.
He acknowledged owning the gun but said at the time he was unaware it was in his luggage.
Bernie Ecclestone has reportedly been arrested in Portugal for illegally carrying a shotgun
Ecclestone was freed and allowed to travel to Switzerland after paying bail. He described it afterwards as a 'silly, tiny little incident', saying it had caused a lot of aggravation as he and family tried to leave Sao Paulo by private plane.
He also denied he was formally arrested despite Sao Paulo state's public security office confirming in a statement a businessman it didn't name was arrested for possession of a firearm at Campinas' airport.
Ecclestone said afterwards he had bought the handgun, a LW Seecamp .32, from a Formula One mechanic or tyre man in Brazil years ago without ammunition and purely as a deterrent.
He added: 'They said you need something like this.
'It might work if someone tried to mug you or something. So I bought it from the guy.
'I had it in the house and used to muck around with it if people came to visit me or something, we would joke around.'
Ecclestone's arrest occurred after he landed at an airport to the west of Lisbon, in Cascais
In April it was reported Bernie Ecclestone's wife had bought a mansion in the prestigious resort area of Quinta da Marinha in Cascais for £35million.
Respected Portuguese daily Correio da Manha described the deal at the time as the 'largest private sale ever of a home' in the country.
It said Brazilian Fabiana Flosi, 46 years younger than Ecclestone, agreed the purchase of the property around 15 miles west of Lisbon in January after negotiations lasting half a year.
There has not yet been any official comment from the PSP about today's reported arrest which several Portuguese media outlets are now going public with.
