Bernie Ecclestone arrested in Portugal for alleged illegal gun possession

Bernie Ecclestone has been arrested in Portugal for allegedly carrying a shotgun when landing his private jet, with no charges filed as yet.

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Bernie Ecclestone arrested in Portugal for alleged illegal gun possession

Get you up to speed: Bernie Ecclestone arrested again for ‘carrying a shotgun’ | News World

Bernie Ecclestone has been arrested in Portugal on suspicion of illegally carrying a gun after landing his private jet at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais. Airport police reportedly made the arrest during a routine operation, and he has not yet been charged.

Bernie Ecclestone was arrested at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais during a routine operation by airport police while arriving on his private jet. Portugal’s Airport Division of the Public Security Police (PSP) has not commented on the incident, and no charges have been filed against him at this time.

Bernie Ecclestone was arrested in Portugal on suspicion of illegally carrying a shotgun, with local police conducting the arrest during a routine operation at Tires Aerodrome. The Portugal’s Airport Division of the Public Security Police has not yet issued an official statement regarding the incident, and Ecclestone has not been charged.

What remains unclear — The Public Security Police in Portugal have not provided details on the circumstances surrounding Bernie Ecclestone’s arrest.

Bernie Ecclestone arrested in Portugal for alleged illegal gun possession

Bernie Ecclestone attends the Formula 1 MSC Cruises Grande Premio De Sao Paulo 2025 in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on November 6, 2025. (Photo by Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
He was arrested in Portugal (Picture: Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto)

Bernie Ecclestone has been arrested in Portugal on suspicion of illegally carrying a gun.

The former F1 CEO, 95, was reportedly arrested at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais, near Lisbon, for carrying a shotgun when he landed his private jet.

Airport police are understood to have made the arrest during a ‘routine operation’.

Portugal’s Airport Division of the Public Security Police (PSP) has not yet officially commented.

He has not been charged.

It is the second time in four years that he has been arrested. Ecclestone was previously detained in Sao Paolo, Brazil, for carrying a gun while boarding a private jet to Switzerland in 2022.

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SAO PAULO, BRAZIL - NOVEMBER 09: Bernie Ecclestone looks on on the grid prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Brazil at Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace on November 09, 2025 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Ecclestone was previously arrested in Brazil (Picture: Getty Images)

Bernie Ecclestone after the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix at Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria on June 28, 2026. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
He has not been charged following the most recent arrest (Picture: NurPhoto via Getty Images)

He admitted to carrying the gun but said he was unaware the weapon was in his luggage.

The business magnate was later freed after paying bail and allowed to travel to Switzerland.

He later described the event as a ‘silly, tiny little incident’ and denied being formally arrested, although Brazilian authorities confirmed that an unnamed businessman had been arrested for possession of a firearm at the Campinas airport.

He said he had bought the LW Seecamp .32 from a Formula One mechanic in Brazil without ammunition and claimed he carried it as a deterrent.

‘They said you need something like this,’ he said. ‘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, originally from the UK, splits his time between Switzerland and Portugal, where he owns property, and Brazil.

WTX has contacted PSP for more information.

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