Called “the world’s first shopping mall,” Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar entrances tens of millions of tourists yearly with its myriad shows of unique jewels and spices, elaborate carpets on the market and fixed hustle.  

But hardly even hidden behind the grins of its stalls’ fez-capped salesmen and town’s ubiquitous scent of döner kebab, a way more sinister enterprise of darkish worldwide cash laundering takes place.

A $30 million seizure of smuggled jewels and diamonds from the market final April —and February’s arrest of 37 suspects in an enormous Turkish cash laundering operation — was the tip of the iceberg, specialists say.

The vice chairman of the bazaar was amongst 37 folks detained in a…



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