Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar is propping up Venezuela, Russia’s economy as a shocking $250m money-laundering market

Called “the world’s first shopping mall,” Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar entrances millions of visitors annually with its myriad displays of exotic jewels and spices, elaborate carpets for sale and constant hustle.  

But hardly even hidden behind the smiles of its stalls’ fez-capped salesmen and the city’s ubiquitous scent of döner kebab, a much more sinister business of dark international money laundering takes place.

A $30 million seizure of smuggled jewels and diamonds from the market last April —and February’s arrest of 37 suspects in a vast Turkish money laundering operation — was the tip of the iceberg, experts say.

The vice president of the bazaar was among 37 people detained in a February 2025 raid, where $250 million in illicit funds were uncovered–just a drop in the

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