Customs officials at Moscow’s Domodedovo airport detained on Monday a Russian traveler carrying a gold watch worth 54.5 million rubles ($1.7 million) in his hand luggage, the Federal Customs Service said.
The man passed through the “Nothing to Declare” customs corridor instead of filing a declaration and paying 30 per cent of the cost of the diamond-encrusted Jacob Co Rainbow Tourbillon watch.
“According to the passenger, he received the watch as a gift in the United States and was unaware of its actual cost,” the customs service said in press release.
Jacob Co, which was founded in the early 1980s by Jacob Arabo, an immigrant from Uzbekistan, counts movie stars and other celebrities among the owners of its luxury watches and jewelry.