Germans demand $500,000 for return of violin

German customs seized a $1.2 million violin from a Japanese professional musician and is demanding she pay almost $500,000 to get it back, reports said on Wednesday.

Belgium-based Yuzuko Horigome was transiting through Frankfurt Airport last week after performing in Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said.

When she tried to walk through the green gate for travelers arriving in the EU with nothing to declare, customs officers stopped her and said she needed to pay 190,000 euros ($237,000) in duty on her 1741 Guarnerius violin.