When it comes to supercars, customs are definitely on the case. After the Lamborghini Gallardo seized in GermanyThis time, it's a black Ferrari Roma, intercepted at the Konstanz border in early September 2025, which earned its driver a staggering bill.
Aged 60 and living in Luxembourg, the driver was driving his Swiss-registered Roma... in Switzerland. A detail that did not escape the attention of German customs officials: for any resident of the European Union, the use of a vehicle registered outside the EU is strictly regulated. In this particular case, the car should have been declared on importation, but this had not been done.
The agents quickly estimated the value of the Italian coupé: around 195,000 Swiss francs, or almost €207,000. And the bill turned out to be steep:
- 64,000 in unpaid import duties,
- A further €60,000 required as security for the forthcoming criminal penalty.
A total of around €124,000 paid immediately, without which the owner would have seen his Ferrari immobilized. The man chose to pay up on the spot so that he could drive off in his Roma. But his story doesn't end there, as a report on customs fraud has been forwarded to the relevant department in Karlsruhe, which will have to decide on the final fine.
As far as the authorities are concerned, this is not a first. According to spokeswoman Sonja Müller, such cases are far from isolated, even if the vehicles concerned do not always reach such a high price level. In the first half of 2025 alone, 26 cars registered outside the EU but driven by European residents were intercepted. And that's not all: 38 other vehicles, often transported on vans or lacking customs clearance papers, were also reported.
These cases show just how intractable customs can be in the face of fraud or negligence. The owner of the Ferrari Roma had the means to get out his checkbook to continue on his way, but his wallet will long remember it.
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