Small and private aircraft often operate below the radar in logistics. This is precisely where smugglers strike. The international customs operation ZAFIRO clearly demonstrates how such aircraft are used for criminal transport. Customs, police, drug enforcement, aviation authorities, and military agencies from 19 countries participated in the operation. Controls were conducted over a 16-day period. A total of 1,431 inspections were carried out in what is known as General Aviation. This refers to private and commercial flights outside regular scheduled air services. The results are substantial: Authorities reported 15 seizures. These included four drug discoveries totaling approximately 1.2 tonnes of narcotics, as well as eleven small aircraft. All eleven aircraft were seized in the Bolivian Departamento Beni during operations against drug smugglers. Additionally, cash was confiscated, arrests were made, and several hangars were closed. Larger discoveries were made in Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina. Authorities in Paraguay discovered 262 kilograms of cannabis on a private jet. The aircraft had come from the USA and had made a stopover in Panama. In Brazil, 490 kilograms of cocaine were found near a clandestine landing strip. An aircraft stationed there showed structural modifications according to the World Customs Organization. In Argentina, two cases were linked to networks using small aircraft, involving a combined total of more than 500 kilograms of cocaine. However, the operation was not limited to drugs. In Ivory Coast, customs officers discovered 16 unregistered artworks on a flight to Lagos. In Senegal, inspectors found aircraft that had remained in the country much longer than their temporary import permits allowed. The operation was coordinated from three locations in Lisbon, Abidjan, and Buenos Aires. Suspicious flights could thus be checked during flight and reported to the destination country. Europe was also monitored, as several detected flight routes led from the Gulf of Guinea and South America toward Europe.