On Wednesday, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents freed dozens of people found locked inside a hot trailer at a checkpoint near Freer, Texas.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight on September 15 at a Border Patrol checkpoint on U.S. Highway 59.
After a tractor trailer approached the checkpoint, a canine unit alerted to the vehicle and it was referred for a closer inspection.
During the inspection, agents discovered 50 people locked in the trailer, which had an interior temperature of more than 90 degrees.
All of the people in the trailer had entered the U.S. illegally and were from countries including Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
“Human smugglers continue to have no regard for the safety and health of the people they exploit as they are treated like a commodity for profit. Laredo Sector agents focus on the agency’s enduring mission priorities of countering terrorism, combating transnational crime, securing the border, facilitating lawful trade, protecting revenue, and facilitating lawful travel,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release.