SALTON CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- The U.S. Border Patrol found more than two dozen illegal immigrants, including two children, packed inside a tractor-trailer near the Salton Sea, officials say.
The smuggling operation was discovered Wednesday around 9:40 p.m. at the Highway 86 immigration checkpoint in Salton City.
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During an inspection, Border Patrol agents discovered the 26 undocumented immigrants in the bed of the trailer.
"The undocumented immigrants were locked and trapped inside this tracker-trailer in below 45 degree weather with no safety restraints," Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez said in a statement. "This smuggling organization had no regard for the safety of the people they were smuggling.
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The immigrants and the 32-year-old truck driver, who is a Mexican national in the United States illegally, were all taken into custody.