Schengen Information System: Europe’s key security and border database helps rescue missing minors and arrest cross-border criminals

The Schengen Information System (SIS) is the most widely used - and largest - information-sharing system for security and border management in Europe. With no internal borders between Schengen countries, the SIS serves as the shared tool for border, immigration, police, customs and judicial authorities across the EU and Schengen-associated countries.

Among its key successes, the SIS has helped arrest dangerous cross-border criminals, apprehend terrorists detected in the EU, and reunite missing children with their families - all made possible by close cooperation between border guards, immigration, customs and police officers across Europe using this vital system.

Central to SIS's operational effectiveness is the SIRENE network.. Each participating country - and Europol - maintains a 24/7 SIRENE Bureau to exchange supplementary information and coordinate SIS alerts, relying on standardised, secure communication to ensure prompt, confidential, and efficient cross-border cooperation, which is vital for the system's effectiveness.

Locating missing persons

A long-running parental abduction case was resolved in June 2025, when Hungarian authorities located and arrested the mother and recovered the abducted child, thanks to alerts in the SIS and sustained SIRENE cooperation. The case began in December 2011, when an Italian father reported his baby daughter had been abducted by the mother. A European Arrest Warrant and a SIS alert for the missing minor remained active throughout the investigation. Following years of cross-border investigation between the Hungarian and Italian authorities, in June 2025, the Hungarian authorities found the mother - who was arrested - and the child. Having lived in isolation, the girl was placed in her maternal grandmother's care with the father's consent and now receives psychological support while maintaining regular contact with him.

Acting on SIS alerts, Portuguese police intercepted a vehicle with false plates, rescuing two missing children and later locating a third, between October and November 2025. The driver - a Portuguese national - was arrested for suspected drug trafficking, driving a stolen vehicle without a licence. Continued investigation led to the location and protective custody of a third minor linked to the case. Direct access to SIS alerts, swift on-the-ground action by Portuguese officers and timely SIRENE exchange with German authorities enabled the rapid rescue and safeguarding of all three children.

Another noteworthy case involving a missing sailor was resolved thanks to SIS alerts. In April 2024, a Spanish sailor was reported missing by his daughter after failing to make expected coastal passages near Italy or Greece. Spanish authorities issued a SIS alert and, following requests to the Italian and Greek SIRENE Bureaux, a complex cross-border air-and-sea search was launched in very adverse weather. Italian rescue teams located and recovered the sailor after several days adrift off the Italian coast.

SIS-powered takedowns

In December 2024, a Lithuanian national - a key figure in a transnational arms and drug trafficking organisation - was traced and arrested in Spain via SIS alerts and ensuing SIRENE cooperation. Using encrypted communication and money laundering, he orchestrated serious crimes across Europe. The arrest followed years of coordinated investigation by Dutch, Lithuanian, Polish and Spanish police, alongside Europol. After multiple failed transfer attempts, the Spanish SIRENE Bureau ensured his surrender to Lithuania under a European Arrest Warrant, showcasing SIS's tangible impact.

In July 2025, Czech police arrested a Russian drug-trafficker, wanted by Germany for over a decade, following a SIS hit at Prague airport. Fingerprint records confirmed his identity, leading to extradition under a European Arrest Warrant.

Another SIS alert helped Spanish authorities arrest a Greek-Swiss national wanted since 2014 for laundering proceeds from bribery against the Greek state. Shortly before his capture, he had changed his name using a new Swiss identity card. Thanks to prompt exchanges between the Swiss and Greek SIRENE Bureaux, the SIS alert was updated with the suspect's new details. Located in Spain, he was arrested and extradited to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant in June 2025.

In November 2025, a coordinated investigation by Czech and Austrian police targeting a series of burglaries in Austria led to the seizure of two vehicles in the Czech Republic and the arrest of four fugitives wanted for organised crime, armed robbery and other serious offences. European Arrest Warrants and the SIS alert issued by Austria, as well as the swift response of Czech officers, enabled the effective apprehensions. One detainee, also wanted by Moldova for kidnapping, rape and additional crimes, had tried to evade capture using a false identity but was found through fingerprint records, demonstrating the vital role of biometric checks.

These operations underline how SIS alerts and SIRENE-facilitated cross-border police and judicial cooperation are instrumental in protecting European citizens.

Find out more

Schengen Information System

SIRENE cooperation

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How SIS exposed a Russian drug trafficker 10 years on the run - a true story

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