The Schengen Information System (SIS) is the most widely used and largest information sharing system for security and border management in Europe. As there are no internal borders between Schengen countries in Europe, SIS is the common tool for border, immigration, police, customs and judicial authorities in the EU and the Schengen associated countries. SIS success stories range from the arrest of dangerous criminals to missing children found and terrorists detected in the EU, all thanks to the close cooperation between border guards and police officers all over Europe, using the common tool, the Schengen Information System. SIS alert for arrestSIS-powered takedown: December 2024 - Spain, Netherlands, Lithuania, PolandIn December 2024, a key member of a large-scale drug and arms trafficking transnational criminal organisation was traced and arrested due to the Schengen Information System (SIS) and the cooperation of the SIRENE Bureaux. The Lithuanian national used money laundering, and encrypted communication systems to orchestrate serious criminal activities across Europe. The arrest in Spain was the result of several years of coordinated investigation by the police forces of the Netherlands, Lithuania and Poland, and Spain in cooperation with Europol and using the SIS. The operation underscores how SIS alerts and SIRENE‑facilitated cross‑border police and judicial cooperation can dismantle organised crime across Europe. After several unsuccessful transfer attempts, the Spanish SIRENE Bureau played a decisive role in enabling the final and effective surrender to Lithuania under a European Arrest Warrant, a clear example of SIS, the common alert database used by border guards and police, delivering tangible results. Long-stop capture at Prague airport thanks to the SIS: July 2025 - Czech Republic & GermanyIn July 2025, Czech police arrested a Russian citizen wanted by Germany for drug‑trafficking offences for more than a decade based on a Schengen Information System (SIS) hit at Prague airport. Fingerprint records in SIS were decisive in confirming his true identity, and a European Arrest Warrant issued by Germany streamlined his extradition to face prosecution. Once again, SIS alerts and timely information exchange between SIRENE bureaux demonstrated their effectiveness in combating cross‑border crime across the EU and the Schengen area.Identity-busting money-launderer caught thanks to the SIS: February 2025 — Greece, Switzerland & Spain In February 2025, based on a hit in the Schengen Information System, Spanish authorities arrested a Greek–Swiss national wanted since 2014 by Greek judicial authorities for laundering proceeds of repeated passive bribery against the Greek state. Shortly before the capture he had changed his name and obtained a new Swiss identity card to evade detection. Thanks to prompt exchange of supplementary information between the Swiss and Greek SIRENE Bureaux, the SIS alert was updated with the suspect’s new details and disseminated across the Schengen area. Located in Spain, he was arrested and extradited to Greece under a European Arrest Warrant in June 2025, a clear demonstration of SIS’s ability to pierce false identities and secure cross‑border judicial cooperation.Cross-border burglary net: November 2025 — Czech Republic & AustriaIn November 2025, a coordinated investigation by Czech and Austrian police targeting a series of burglaries in Austria led to the seizure of two vehicles during an intervention 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 and 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 conclusively identified through fingerprint records, demonstrating the vital role of biometric checks. The Schengen Information System and active cooperation between SIRENE bureaux were key to locating and arresting these individuals across the Schengen area.Missing personsChild reunited after more than a decade: December 2011 report - June 2025 recovery - Italy & HungaryA 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 Schengen Information System (SIS) and sustained SIRENE cooperation. The case began in December 2011 when an Italian father reported his baby daughter abducted by the mother, who later lost parental rights and was believed to be hiding in Hungary. A European Arrest Warrant and a SIS alert for the missing minor remained active throughout the investigation. After years of coordinated, complex investigation between the Hungarian and Italian authorities, in June 2025 the Hungarian authorities finally located both the mother, who was arrested in June 2025, and the daughter. The child—who had not attended school and had rarely left home—was placed in the care of her maternal grandmother with the father’s consent and now maintains regular contact with him while receiving psychological support. This case underlines SIS’s enduring role in protecting minors and enabling cross‑border judicial and police cooperation.Rapid rescue of three missing minors: October –November 2025 — Germany & Portugal Portuguese police acting on alerts in the Schengen Information System (SIS) intercepted a vehicle with false plates, rescued two missing children, and located a third—demonstrating how instant access to SIS drives lifesaving, on-the-ground responses.Between October and November 2025, Portuguese police acting on SIS alerts intercepted a vehicle with false plates and found two missing children inside; the driver — a Portuguese national — was arrested on suspicion of 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.Storm rescue via SIS: April 2024 — Spain, Italy & GreeceA missing Spanish sailor adrift off Italy was found and rescued after alerts in the Schengen Information System (SIS) and SIRENE coordination mobilised air-and-sea search teams across borders, turning a regional alert into a lifesaving recovery. 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. The case demonstrates how SIS alerts and the timely exchange of supplementary information between SIRENE bureaux can mobilise coordinated multinational responses and deliver lifesaving outcomes within the Schengen area.Cooperating countries: Ireland and SwitzerlandIn 2018, a 14 year old girl was reported missing from a care home in Connacht, Ireland. On 4 May 2021, the missing minor was stopped in a railway station in Switzerland, unaccompanied at the time. SIRENE Switzerland notified the Irish SIRENE Bureau, who then contacted the investigating officer in the case and the Irish Child and Family Agency – TUSLA. This opened channels of communication between Irish police forces, TUSLA, and the Swiss Social Services, after which the vulnerable minor was taken into care and protected.Cooperating countries: Ireland and GreeceOn 9 March 2021, a high risk missing person was reported by her father to the local police station and was believed to be in Greece. A SIS alert on the missing woman was created. On 13 May 2021, the woman was located in a store in Athens in a very confused state. She was taken into protective custody, after which her father flew out to Greece and was reunited with his daughter.Wanted personsCooperating countries: Ireland and PolandOn 18 March 2021, a SIS arrest alert for surrender or extradition was created for a Polish national wanted for a murder in 2015. One day later, the Polish SIRENE Bureau responded to the Irish SIS alert reporting that the subject was currently imprisoned in Poland and serving a sentence for another offence.Cooperating countries: Ireland and ItalyOn 14 May 2021, a SIS arrest alert was created for an Italian national wanted in relation to the alleged rape of a young male in Munster in 2019. The suspect had since returned to Italy. It was believed that he continued to have interactions with young people at sports camps. The suspect was arrested in Italy on 27 May - 13 days after the Irish SIS alert was created.Cooperating countries: Ireland and the NetherlandsOn 24 May 2021, a SIS arrest alert was created for a Dutch national who had seriously assaulted his wife in their home in Ireland in 2015. The suspect fled Ireland soon after the offence was committed. On 8 June 2021, the Dutch authorities advised that the suspect would be arrested on the basis of the Irish SIS alert.Cooperating countries: Italy and RomaniaOn 8 December 2021, a brutal double murder was committed in Iasi, Romania. After committing this crime, the perpetrator left Romania. During the next few days, the murderer stayed in different accommodations in Rome. When a SIS arrest alert was issued, Italian investigators made inquiries and managed to track down and catch the man in Rome on 14 December 2021.Cooperating countries: Italy and RomaniaOn 15 June 2019, SIRENE Italy entered a SIS arrest alert for a Spanish national, wanted by the Italian judicial authorities for money laundering. He was sentenced in Italy to 6 years and 19 days of imprisonment, as well as a fine of EUR 4 361.SIRENE Romania exchanged information with the Criminal Investigation Unit in the Romanian Police and the Spanish liaison officer in Bucharest, in relation to the possible location of the wanted person in Romania. After the exchange of information, the subject was arrested on 20 January 2020 in Bucharest, in front of the Spanish Embassy in Romania. He was presented before a competent prosecutor who ordered his arrest. Following cooperation between SIRENE Romania, SIRENE Italy and the competent judicial authority in Romania, on 21 January 2020, the Court of Appeal in Bucharest agreed to the subject’s surrender to Italy. The subject was surrendered to Italy on 28 January 2020.Cooperating countries: Italy and GermanyOn 7 November 2021, a man without identity documents reached Lampedusa together with other migrants. A check in the SIS database identified a match for the man’s fingerprints with a robbery suspect for whom SIRENE Germany entered a European Arrest Warrant. The fugitive was arrested for surrender to Germany.
