Egypt arrests top customs official on corruption charges

Egyptian authorities have detained the head of the country's customs authority on corruption charges.

The Administrative Control Authority, Egypt's highest anti-graft agency, said Monday that Gamal Abdel-Azim was arrested after being accused of taking bribes of 1 million Egyptian pounds ($56,000) from an unnamed businessman.

The statement said Abdel-Azim faces accusations of bribery, profiteering and squandering public funds. It did not elaborate further on the case.

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Egyptians have long complained about high-level corruption, one of the central grievances of the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.

Yet it still pervades political society seven years on.

Authorities arrested the governor of the Nile Delta province of Menoufia in January, and the deputy governor of the Mediterranean city of Alexandria in August, both on corruption allegations.

The corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Egypt 108th out of 180 countries in its worldwide index in 2016.