Turkish link uncovered in US money laundering and migrant smuggling
Abdullah Bozkurt/Stockholm
A recently unsealed affidavit filed in the Eastern District of Virginia has exposed the scope of an alleged international crime network that uses Turkey as a central hub for laundering stolen euros and operating a human smuggling route that extends to the United States.
The complaint charges Abu Khamza (alias Javokhir Norkobilov), Mirzobek Bekmuratov and Kazi Haidar Ali with conspiring to launder money and conducting financial transactions to conceal the proceeds of multiple criminal schemes.
The lead suspect, Abu Khamza, an Uzbek-born naturalized US citizen, is accused of orchestrating money laundering, migrant smuggling and financial fraud across several jurisdictions. Investigators say the evidence underscores Turkey’s role as both a gateway and marketplace in the broader criminal conspiracy.
In January 2023 a Turkish-based co-conspirator identified as “C-1” contacted Khamza via WhatsApp and sent photos of €20 and €50 banknotes. The messages claimed the notes were authentic bills stolen from ATMs, covered in dye and available in bulk at about half their face value. C-1 told Khamza that up to €100 million of such notes were available — suggesting that Turkey served as a distribution center for stolen European currency. In subsequent messages that month, Khamza and C-1 discussed methods to launder the stolen money.
Messages also revealed that Khamza and C-1 coordinated plans for kidnapping and ransom collection, discussing how to collect the cash and render their communications untraceable to law enforcement.
Turkey also appeared as a key stopover in the group’s human smuggling route. Between February and June 2023, Khamza and another conspirator, “C-5,” discussed transporting Uzbek nationals from Tashkent to the US via Turkey, Spain and Mexico. Khamza arranged airline tickets through Bekmuratov and boasted that 30–34 migrants had successfully crossed the border. However, one smuggled migrant (“C-19”) was later apprehended in Mexico and gave US authorities Khamza’s contact information. The affidavit noted that C-5 complained about borrowing money to buy tickets because Khamza failed to fulfill his promise to fund them.
US border data support the affidavit’s findings, showing a sharp rise in arrivals of irregular migrants from Turkey and related transit countries. Between 2021 and 2023 migrant encounters involving Turkish citizens increased by nearly 300 percent, totaling 32,203 individuals. The figures highlight Turkey’s emergence as a major logistical hub for transcontinental migration. When factoring in Central Asian and Middle Eastern migrants who transit through Turkey en route to the US, the total number is even higher.
Organized smuggling networks reportedly charge $10,000–$25,000 per person for the full route. Smugglers exploit visa-free travel agreements between Turkey and several Latin American countries to move migrants without immediate detection. Most migrants depart from Istanbul on commercial flights to Mexico, Ecuador or Brazil and then continue north by land through Central America.
Turkish facilitators work with Latin American intermediaries who organize ground transport through Mexico to border towns such as Ciudad Juárez or Tijuana. Once in Mexico migrants are handed over to local cartels or “coyotes” who manage the final, often dangerous, crossing into Texas or Arizona.
Although US pressure has occasionally prompted Turkish authorities to disrupt local smuggling cells, enforcement remains inconsistent. Smugglers often bribe officials, exploit lax border controls and benefit from Turkey’s extensive underground economy, which provides opportunities for forgery and money laundering operations to thrive.
The smuggling trend was temporarily curbed under tighter migration policies and border enforcement measures introduced during the second Trump administration. US data show irregular migrant encounters dropped to levels not seen since the 1960s. In April 2024, for instance, fewer than 8,400 irregular crossers were intercepted, compared with nearly 250,000 at the peak in December 2023.
The federal affidavit also outlines other crimes allegedly committed by Khamza and his associates.
Investigators say Khamza claimed to earn just $2,000 a month as a food-truck driver, but forensic analysis of his phones revealed communications about moving large sums of illicit cash. Khamza worked closely with Ravshanjon Karimov, a 44-year-old Uzbek national who until recently lived in Fairfax, Virginia. Uzbek authorities have charged Karimov in absentia with extortion, arson (2022), kidnapping for a $10 million ransom (2023) and armed robbery (2024).
According to the affidavit, Khamza helped Karimov coordinate the 2023 kidnapping plot using encrypted messaging apps, including providing a virtual-currency wallet intended to receive ransom payments.
Organized crime networks have flourished in Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) and his far-right ally, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli. The two have overseen the release of notorious mafia figures from prison, creating a fertile environment for international crime syndicates to operate in Turkey while pressuring law enforcement and the judiciary to obstruct any serious crackdown on such criminal networks.
The investigation also revealed that the defendants exploited US financial institutions. In December 2024, 89 counterfeit checks totaling $87,922 were deposited into an account belonging to Khamza’s company, JNB Trans Inc., in Brooklyn. Within days, nearly all the funds were withdrawn or transferred — including $12,475 sent to Khamza’s Cash App account (under his former name, Norkobilov) and $3,500 sent to Bekmuratov.
Federal agents observed Khamza, Bekmuratov and Karimov meeting at a Brooklyn restaurant on December 22, 2024, and suspect the meeting was to plan the check-fraud scheme. Shortly afterward Karimov embarked on a gambling spree, betting $342,217.50 at MGM National Harbor in Maryland and in Atlantic City, cashing out $333,857.50 — transactions investigators say were part of a money-laundering operation.
The affidavit also describes a sophisticated unemployment insurance fraud. In 2021 Khamza and a conspirator identified as “C-10” targeted beneficiaries of California’s prepaid unemployment debit cards. They filed false claims of lost or stolen cards, rerouted mail to Brooklyn addresses controlled by Khamza’s group and withdrew more than $113,000 from ATMs in Brooklyn and Newark. During that period Khamza transferred at least $14,000 to C-10 and his Russian-based associates.
The defendants also allegedly misused pandemic aid programs. Though New York law required Khamza’s company to report payroll quarterly, no wage reports were filed between 2019 and 2023. Nevertheless, Khamza applied for a federal Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) in July 2020, claiming two employees. The company’s account received $126,800 in loan funds, over $40,000 of which was later moved to Khamza’s personal account. Only $1,200 was ever repaid, and the loan was ultimately written off.
The case points to vulnerabilities in Turkey’s financial and transportation systems. Its geographical position between Europe and Asia makes it a natural transit point for both legitimate travelers and criminal smugglers. Although Turkish authorities have not been publicly implicated in this US investigation, the affidavit demonstrates how transnational criminal networks exploit regulatory gaps in Turkey’s system.
In addition to the stolen-euro operation, Turkey’s airports and visa-free regime for Central Asian nationals make it an attractive launching point for illegal migration to the United States via Spain and Mexico.
While US prosecutors move forward with money-laundering and fraud charges under federal law, the involvement of Turkey-based conspirators, including the unidentified broker of the dye-stained euros, suggests future indictments could extend to overseas defendants.
Khamza, Bekmuratov and Ali, a Bangladesh-born naturalized US citizen, now face federal charges for conspiracy to commit money laundering and related crimes. If convicted, they could face lengthy prison sentences and asset forfeiture. The case illustrates how Turkey’s entrenched corruption and weak law enforcement have enabled networks that facilitate both money laundering and human smuggling with relative impunity.
