A newly-married couple were left angry and upset after a Customs officer confiscated their wedding rings.

Laura Coelho, 21, and husband Roberto (Bobby) Coelho, 30, were instructed to hand the bands over because they could not prove what they paid for them.

More than three weeks on, they still do not have them back, and have had to buy new rings and get them blessed by a priest.

Mrs. Coelho told The Royal Gazette the problem arose on December 9 when she and her husband flew in from her native Canada to spend a year in Bermuda, where he is a resident.

"We were sent into Customs for them to check our bags after we had already claimed $1,200 worth of items. We have been recently married in September back in Canada, where I am from, and the Customs officer picked on us for that," she claimed.

"We had to take off our wedding bands and my engagement ring and hand them over to the officer until we could prove the price we paid for them so we could pay duty on them. What we don't get is that we both had all kinds of jewellery on us that they did not take."

Two days later, they provided proof that Mr. Coelho had already paid duty on her engagement ring last February. However, they could not provide receipts for the purchase of the 14 karat gold wedding bands around a year ago, which they say are together worth $400.

"These are the rings we got married with and for them to take them off our fingers and tell us we cannot have them back is an outrage," said Mrs. Coelho. "We told the officer to tell us what he thought they are worth and we would pay duty on what he thought, as we had already told him the price we paid for them.

"For Customs to give a resident this much hassle is uncalled-for and disgusting. We had to go out the next day and buy new wedding bands and get them blessed again. Every person we spoke to told us they were very disgusted and upset with the whole situation."

Mrs. Coelho said they questioned the officer on why he focused on their wedding and engagement rings and not their other jewellery.

"I had a necklace, a bracelet and two other rings. Bobby had a watch and a chain on. None of those were taken from us. He said since we were just married it caught his attention," she claimed.

The couple, who usually live in Nova Scotia but currently reside in Pembroke, have not filed a formal complaint. However, Collector of Customs Winniefred Fostine-DeSilva told The Royal Gazette her department is looking into the matter.

"The file is with our Investigations Unit and therefore I cannot discuss the matter with you. Someone from our Investigations Unit will be in contact with the passengers shortly to discuss their matter," she said.

She explained that visitors may import their personal goods for up to six months without the payment of duty.

However, as the couple are residing in Bermuda for a year, 25 percent duty would be owed on the items imported.