Benelux, police cooperation, Safety
Silent Skies 3: Internationally coordinated operation against smuggling through General Aviation
29 Sep. 2026
Police, customs and security services from eight European countries took part in Operation Silent Skies 3 from 23 to 27 September, an international initiative targeting the misuse of the general aviation sector by criminal networks. The operation builds on an initiative launched within the Benelux framework in 2024 and has since evolved into a wider European cooperation project.
During the operation, Ariadne Petridis, Secretary-General of the Benelux Union, visited the command centre in Maastricht. Her visit highlighted how a project developed within the Benelux framework has evolved into a tangible example of successful European cooperation.
General aviation encompasses all civil aviation activities that do not fall under scheduled commercial flights, charter transport or military aviation. More specifically, it includes private, recreational, training and business flights.
This segment of aviation can also be exploited for criminal purposes, including the smuggling of drugs and other illicit goods, as well as the movement of criminal proceeds. Smaller airports in particular may be attractive to criminal organisations due to their limited scale and infrastructure. Silent Skies aims to better identify vulnerabilities within this sector and take targeted action against them.
Suspicious flights identified through risk analysis
For this third edition of Silent Skies, participating authorities focused on flights originating from regions including South America, West Africa, Northwest Africa and Canada. Based on joint risk assessments, a number of flights were selected for further scrutiny.
During the five-day operation, 47 flights were classified as suspicious and became subject to inspections by police and customs authorities in the participating countries. During the inspection of a private flight at Brussels Airport, more than EUR 100,000 in various currencies was discovered and seized. The Federal Judicial Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Halle-Vilvoorde in Belgium have opened a money laundering investigation.
Participants in Operation Silent Skies 3 included the Benelux countries, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and the United Kingdom, together with Europol, Frontex, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre Narcotics (MAOC-N), the World Customs Organization and the European Commission.
The operation was coordinated from an operational centre hosted by the Netherlands National Police in Maastricht. There, police, customs and security experts exchanged real-time information on suspicious flight movements and supported joint inspections and investigations.
From Benelux project to European cooperation
Operation Silent Skies was launched in 2024 on the initiative of the Belgian Federal Police during Belgium’s Presidency of the Benelux Union. The project was designed to strengthen the resilience of the general aviation sector against cross-border crime through enhanced information-sharing, risk analysis and operational cooperation.
Since then, Silent Skies has developed into an international and multidisciplinary partnership. By bringing together information and expertise from different agencies and countries, risks can be identified more rapidly and inspections and investigations can be better coordinated.
Criminal networks do not stop at national borders. International cooperation and swift information exchange are therefore essential to preventing the misuse of the general aviation sector and effectively combating cross-border crime.
