The Schengen Information System, Europe’s biggest information-sharing database for security and border management, has helped police and border authorities arrest suspects and locate missing people across Schengen countries.
The system is used by border, immigration, police, customs and judicial authorities in EU and Schengen-associated countries, with information shared between participating states where there are no internal border checks, the European Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
Each participating country and Europol runs a 24/7 “SIRENE Bureau” — a national contact point that exchanges follow-up information linked to Schengen Information System alerts — to help authorities coordinate cross-border cases.
A parental abduction case that began in December 2011 was resolved in June 2025 after Hungarian authorities located and arrested the mother and recovered the child following alerts in the system and cooperation between Hungary and Italy.
The child was placed in the care of her maternal grandmother with the father’s consent and was receiving psychological support while maintaining regular contact with him.
Portuguese police rescued three missing children between October and November 2025 after intercepting a vehicle with false number plates and acting on system alerts, with follow-up exchanges with German authorities through the SIRENE network.
The driver, a Portuguese national, was arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking and other offences including driving a stolen vehicle without a licence.
Arrests linked to alerts and fingerprints
A Spanish sailor reported missing in April 2024 was found after Spanish authorities issued an alert and contacted Italian and Greek SIRENE bureaux, which led to a cross-border air-and-sea search, the Commission said.
Italian rescue teams located and recovered him after several days adrift off the Italian coast.
A Lithuanian national described as a key figure in a transnational arms and drug trafficking organisation was arrested in Spain in December 2024 after being traced through system alerts, with Europol involved alongside police in the Netherlands, Lithuania, Poland and Spain.
The Spanish SIRENE Bureau coordinated his surrender to Lithuania under a European Arrest Warrant after earlier transfer attempts failed.
Czech police arrested a Russian drug-trafficker at Prague airport in July 2025 after a hit on the system, with fingerprint records used to confirm his identity before extradition under a European Arrest Warrant.
A Greek-Swiss national wanted since 2014 for laundering proceeds from bribery against the Greek state was arrested in Spain and extradited to Greece in June 2025 after the alert was updated with new identity details following exchanges between Swiss and Greek SIRENE bureaux.
Four fugitives wanted for offences including organised crime and armed robbery were arrested in the Czech Republic in November 2025 following a Czech-Austrian investigation into burglaries in Austria, with European Arrest Warrants and system alerts issued by Austria.
One detainee also wanted by Moldova for crimes including kidnapping and rape was identified through fingerprint records after attempting to evade capture using a false identity.
