Arnold Schwarzenegger was detained at a German airport on Wednesday after authorities discovered an expensive watch in his luggage that he had allegedly failed to declare.
Customs officials found the one-of-a-kind Audemars Piguet wristwatch, during a search of the actor’s suitcase when he landed.
It was reported that Schwarzenegger initially cooperated with officials at the Munich airport, but grew increasingly irritated as the investigation progressed and authorities seemingly fumbled through it.
Schwarzenegger apparently claimed that the watch was intended for donation and would auctioned off the next day in Austria.
🚨🇩🇪ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER TO BE PROSECUTED IN GERMANY
Officials in Germany caught Arnold with an undeclared luxury watch, fined him $35,000, and have started criminal proceedings.
Customs official: "We have initiated criminal proceedings under tax law. The watch should have… pic.twitter.com/1xZFz7YOH3
— Kacee Allen (@kaceerallen) January 17, 2024
Despite the item in question being a watch that the “Terminator” actor owns, German officials still wanted him to pay taxes on it.
“If the goods remain in the EU, you have to declare them through customs,” a Munich customs spokesperson told The Guardian.
“This applies to everyone, whether their name is Schwarzenegger or MĂĽller, Meier, Huber.”
But a source close to the actor told PEOPLE that he wasn’t asked to fill out a declaration form by customs officials.
“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,” the source remarked.
The errors continued to pile up and lasted for an excruciating three hours, even after Schwarzenegger agreed to pay the taxes so he could get on his way.
The snafu happened when he offered to pay by credit card, but German customs required half of the amount to be put up in cash.
“The officers failed to use a credit card machine for an hour until they gave up and brought Arnold to a bank and asked him to withdraw cash from an ATM to pay,” the source reported.
“The ATM they brought him to had a limit too low and the bank was closed,” they said about the cluster of a situation continuing.
“When he returned, a new officer brought a new credit card machine that worked.”
According to German news outlet Bild, officials shook down the former governator for more than $38,000 which included over $4,000 tax on the watch and another $5,453 in penalties.
Three hours later, and Schwarzenegger was on his way, but clearly not happy about what went down at the airport and how long it took to sort out.
“This is the problem that Germany is suffering from. You can no longer see the forest for the trees,” he told Bild.
Munich customs still seems set on going after Schwarzenegger for failing to declare the watch after flying in from Los Angeles.
“We have initiated criminal tax proceedings,” an official commented. “The watch should have been registered because it is an import.”
The actor is scheduled to auction off the watch and other items at the Dinner & Auction for Environmental Protection at the Stanglwirt on Thursday evening.
The proceeds will go towards funding his Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative, and according to the source, will be reported for tax purposes.
“We hope next time they don’t make him pay taxes on his suits or anything else he packs,” the source remarked snidely.
Country singers Luke Bryan and Jason Aldean also encountered less than friendly skies when they flew this week, however, it was mother nature and not airport officials that caused their issues.
The duo went on a duck hunting trip in St. Louis and were flying back home when their short flight got very “tense.”
“Well we took off and it was so cold,” Bryan said in an Instagram video they recorded at Dairy Queen.
“I just peed beside the road.” – @lukebryan
I really love him!!!!!#lukebryan pic.twitter.com/0CmRewzzvn— Gillian Kelley (@gillianKelley2) January 13, 2024
“In St. Louis it’s like, 16 degrees, wind was blowing 40 miles an hour,” he noted. “Some of the instruments on the plane were not (working)…so we had to turn and land. And yeah, it was a little tense.”
Aldean stated that they believed their plane “was gonna fall out of the sky,” before they touched down safely.
Clearly shaken from the events, they decided that it would be safer to drive the hour-and-a-half home, then wait for another flight.
“Now we’re on I-55, at a Dairy Queen, we’re getting some chicken fingers, I just peed beside the road, and Jason’s the driver,” Bryan said about their location.
“Because I don’t trust you to drive,” Aldean shot back.