Border Patrol officers at Interstate 19 Immigration Checkpoint near Amado apprehended two U.S. citizens smuggling 30 illegal aliens with a semitrailer on Saturday night, Oct. 26.

At about 10 p.m., agents from the Tucson Sector referred a semi-trailer for secondary inspection after a Border Patrol canine alerted officials about the the vehicle. During the inspection, agents found 29 people from Mexico and one from Ecuador hidden inside the trailer, including an unaccompanied minor, according to Customs and Border Protection.

All 30 were illegally present in the country as determined by the agents.

In an effort to prevent deaths at the hands of smugglers, Homeland Security recently launched Operation Safeguard to educate the public and the trucking industry on the life-threatening dangers involved in using human trafficking commercial transportation.

A Border Patrol chief tweeted on Wednesday, “The situation at the border this year was unlike anything I’d seen in my 25 yr career. In FY19, Border Patrol made 859,501 apprehensions—the highest number since FY07. A record 65% of South West Border apprehensions were family units & unaccompanied children.”