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$1m worth of diamonds seized in Istanbul's Grand Bazaar

April 19, 2023 at 7:58 pm

A view of historical Grand Bazaar, built in 1500s by stone and wooden, as it opened its doors for their customers after 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes hit multiple provinces of Turkiye including Kahramanmaras, on March 06, 2023 [Özgün Tiran/Anadolu Agency]

Istanbul Police, Tuesday, seized unprocessed raw diamonds with a market value of TL 20 million ($1 million), estimated to be 61.38 carats, during an operation in the Grand Bazaar – one of the historical trade centres of Istanbul, local Turkish media reports.

According to the report, the Istanbul Police Department and the Department of Combating Financial Crimes received information about the smuggling of diamonds in the historic Grand Bazaar, Istanbul.

They detained four foreign national suspects, the report added.

It was determined that the seized diamonds were brought to Turkiye illegally, via Africa.

READ: Turkiye earthquakes damage historical Grand Bazaar in Kahramanmaras