The 29-year-old, who has not been named, had failed to pay a £470 fine following an assault conviction.
But the law caught up with him at Glasgow Airport, where he was stopped after failing to appear at a Fines Enforcement hearing in Dumfries Sheriff Court.
The man had been offered numerous opportunities to make payment of his fine at a reasonable and affordable instalment rate, but failed to do so.
He was arrested by police at the airport as he entered the country and paid up in full before being released.
Arresting non-payers as they travel through ports or airports is one of a number of measures available to the Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service (SCTS) for recovering unpaid fines.
SCTS chief operations officer David Fraser said: “The fines enforcement team continue to be highly effective in securing unpaid fines – ignoring your fine and not speaking to an enforcement officer if you are having difficulty paying is very unwise.
“Failure to pay, or to engage with our officers, will result in strong sanctions being taken.”
