Arnold Schwarzenegger, who uttered the legendary line “I’ll be back” in The Terminator, may think twice before returning to Germany after being stopped for hours at customs and subjected to what he called an “incompetent shakedown” at Munich Airport after entering the country with a luxury watch that was potentially to be auctioned at a charity event last week.

The former movie star and California governor was stopped for a routine check after arriving on Jan. 17 and was held for about 2-1/2 hours, according to a customs spokesperson.

Goods over the value of 430 euros ($630) that will stay in the European Union have to be declared and, where appropriate, duty paid on them. German daily Bild, which first reported on the incident, reported that the allegedly undeclared watch made by Swiss manufacturer Audemars Piguet was valued at about 20,000 euros ($29,000) by Schwarzenegger, for whom it was specially produced.

The Schwarzenegger Climate Initiative said that Schwarzenegger was detained “for travelling with a watch he owns, that he might be auctioning at his charity auction (Jan. 28) in Kitzbuehel,” in neighbouring Austria.

It added in an emailed statement that Schwarzenegger “cooperated at every step even though it was an incompetent shakedown” and that he agreed to “prepay potential taxes on the watch (remember, it is his personal watch).”

It said that the watch was still likely to be auctioned and the climate initiative “will properly report it, as all of Arnold’s nonprofits do.”

Schwarzenegger’s charity auctions raise millions of dollars every year for after-school programs for children across the US and environmental work around the world, it added.

The matter now goes to a customs penalty body in Augsburg, which will evaluate the case.