Sylvester Stallone had an unusual welcome when he arrived in Australia Friday night: a raid from Australian Customs officers.The actor arrived in Australia on his jet Friday night to promote his movie “Rocky Balboa.” There was a problem though when prohibited items were discovered in Stallone's possession, through routine x-rays of luggage.
The Daily Telegraph Online reports that on Monday Stallone and members of his group were seen throwing things from a hotel window. Australian customs raided the Rocky star’s room at Hyatt Hotel. A summons was also issued to require Stallone to answer charges on prohibited substances, according to AAP.
It is not clear yet what the whole fuss really was about. Customs and hotel management have refused to comment or give any details about the seized items.
Stallone himself simply said: “To (customs) it's major, but it's really minor stuff. I just made a mistake,” as quoted by the Daily Telegraph.
On Monday night the 60-year-old actor left for Thailand, where he will begin filming the fourth film in his Rambo series, “Pearl of the Cobra,” the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Though Customs would not confirm reports that bodybuilding drugs banned in Australia but legal elsewhere in the world were involved, Stallone only replied to reporters’ questions that “it's something I've taken for years” and “it's not dangerous.”
Besides illegal drugs, Australia prohibits unlicensed importation of many steroids and performance-enhancing substances for sporting use.
The actor was good-natured about the incident though. “That was just a misunderstanding,” Stallone told reporters at the Australian premiere of Rocky Balboa”. “Customs is doing a great job.”
Stallone put a lot of energy in the making of the latest Rocky Balboa movie, taking credit for writing, directing and playing in the motion picture. Critics consider this sixth installment the best Rocky film since the Oscar-winning first movie.
“Around 1996-97 I could see the writing on the wall,” Stallone told reporters. “Things weren't going well, and I thought 'Boy, as my career's winding down, if there's one thing I could fix, it would have been Rocky, because I knew Rocky V missed the mark.'”
