(NewsNation) — Local law enforcement is cracking down on a stretch of highway connecting Arizona and California nicknamed the “Smuggler’s Highway,” which has become a hotspot for smuggling people from the southern border to Phoenix.
Sheriff’s deputies in Pinal County, Arizona, say it isn’t just cartels smuggling migrants but also American citizens trying to make money.
The so-called “Smuggler’s Highway” goes right from the U.S.-Mexico border all the way to Phoenix and then connects all over California. As a result, Pinal County authorities have set up an anti-smuggling unit along the route.
On an exclusive ridealong, sheriffs told NewsNation smugglers often load their cars full of people or drugs and bring them to Phoenix and then to the rest of the country.
While it is common for cartel members to carry out these operations, ordinary American citizens are also getting involved, learning how to get into the illegal business on Facebook. Authorities say they can get as much as $1,000 per migrant, so Americans are filling their cars up with three or four people and coordinating pickups and drop-offs through WhatsApp.
NewsNation will show a live look at the “Smuggler’s Highway” in a special report Thursday.
On Thursday, May 9th, NewsNation rides with officials patrolling the border live, showing you the border the way no other news network can. See it on a special edition of “Dan Abrams Live” at 9 p.m. Eastern (8 p.m. Central). Find out your channel at joinnn.com.