Sudan blames bus congestion at Egypt border on commercial smuggling

March 11, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese Customs Authority on Wednesday attributed a week-long bottleneck of buses at the Argeen border crossing with Egypt to a surge in passenger trips being used to mask illegal commercial trade.

The authority issued the clarification after a shipping agent’s video went viral, showing dozens of travel buses stranded at the crossing for over seven days. Bus owners and shipping agencies have accused customs officials of deliberately slowing the clearance of luggage and goods.

Customs officials stated that daily bus arrivals at Argeen have climbed to approximately 50 vehicles per day. The authority noted that the increased volume requires stricter adherence to inspection protocols and “priority-based processing.”

“Some traders have consistently sent commercial goods via passenger buses,” the Customs Authority said in a statement. “This practice could be exploited to hide restricted or prohibited goods.”

The congestion coincides with a significant wave of returns. Approximately 475,000 Sudanese have recently returned from Egypt, out of the 1.5 million who fled there following the outbreak of conflict in April 2023.

The Customs Force cited Article 4, Paragraph B of the border transport protocol, which explicitly prohibits passenger vehicles from carrying commercial-grade cargo. They emphasized that inspections are being carried out in the order of arrival and that the workforce is operating at normal capacity.

Argeen remains a critical land artery between the two nations. However, it has become a flashpoint for smuggling as traders attempt to bypass standard commercial shipping fees and procedures by packing passenger buses with bulk merchandise.