By Bosphorus News Geopolitics Desk
An October 11 investigation by Colombia's CAMBIO describes an alleged gold-smuggling route through Venezuela to Türkiye and Dubai, involving cryptocurrency payments and air shipments. The report cites Turkish buyers, intermediaries and private-jet movements, but provides no cargo or financial records directly linking the flights to illicit gold.
The investigation follows an August incident in Panama, where authorities stopped a Colombian passenger travelling to Istanbul with approximately 16 kilograms of undeclared gold valued at $1.96 million.
Panama denies transit to passenger carrying $1.96M in gold
On August 5, Panama's National Migration Service stopped a Colombian citizen at Tocumen International Airport after he arrived from Cali en route to Istanbul.
Authorities found approximately 16 kilograms of gold in his possession. The passenger said a company had hired him to transport it.
Panamanian officials contacted their Colombian counterparts, who confirmed that the shipment lacked the required export documents. The passenger was returned to Colombia.
The official account did not identify the company or intended recipient in Türkiye, or say whether the gold was confiscated.
Turkish buyers and cryptocurrency payments
CAMBIO journalists Sylvia Charry and Iván Serrano based their investigation on accounts from gold traders and a September 28 letter sent to the Colombian government by representatives of the formal precious-metals sector.
The traders warned that between 500 kilograms and one metric ton of gold could be leaving Colombia illegally each week and called for an investigation. The quantities have not been independently established.
One trader interviewed by CAMBIO described buyers he identified as Turkish, operating through contacts in Venezuela. He said advance payments could reach $500,000 to $1 million in USDT before being converted into Colombian pesos to purchase gold.
CAMBIO described, citing its sources, an alleged overland route from Medellín through Bucaramanga and Cúcuta, crossing into Venezuela at San Antonio del Táchira before reaching Caracas. The sources claimed some of the metal is remelted in Venezuela and prepared for shipment to Istanbul or Dubai.
The investigation did not name the Turkish buyers or publish cryptocurrency wallet addresses or transaction records.
Caracas–Istanbul flights
CAMBIO examined the movements of two Bombardier Global Express aircraft operated by Germany-based FAI Rent-a-Jet.
Plane Finder records confirm that D-AUWE flew from Caracas to Istanbul on September 17 and D-AFAM operated the same route on October 7.
Flight histories establish aircraft movements, not cargo. The investigation presented no manifest or customs record showing that either jet carried gold.
A source also alleged that passengers used Turkish Airlines connections through Istanbul to transport gold toward Dubai. CAMBIO published no passenger records or other documentation supporting that claim.
Neither the investigation nor the flight records establish that Turkish Airlines or FAI Rent-a-Jet knowingly handled illicit shipments.
Illegal mining and declining export volumes
The allegations come as Colombia struggles with widespread illegal gold extraction.
On October 2, Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy released findings prepared with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. The study identified 118,410 hectares affected by alluvial gold extraction in 2025, approximately 75% of which was classified as illegal or unauthorized.
World Bank WITS data, drawn from UN Comtrade, show Colombia's declared exports of raw, semi-manufactured and powdered gold falling from 71,705 kilograms in 2023 to 57,158 kilograms in 2025, a decline of 20.3%. Their declared value rose from approximately $3.4 billion to $4.6 billion.
Those figures do not measure smuggled gold.
The Panama incident documents an attempted transit to Istanbul with undeclared gold. CAMBIO's wider account of Turkish buyers, Venezuelan intermediaries and private flights relies on source testimony and aircraft movements. No public evidence presented in the investigation establishes a connection between those elements.
Sources: CAMBIO, Panama's National Migration Service, EFE, Plane Finder, Colombia's Ministry of Mines and Energy, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Bank WITS/UN Comtrade, Bosphorus News review and reporting.