Buckeye police dealt with two suspected human smuggling incidents in less than 24 hours this week, turning both over to U.S. Border Patrol.

The cases happened north of Interstate 10 and Verrado Way.

Just before 9 a.m. on Sept. 7, Buckeye police received a report of two suspicious vehicles parked on the side of the road near 214th Avenue and McDowell Road.

When officers arrived, they found five men hiding in the vehicles. A sixth person was in the desert south of the vehicles, police said.

Investigators learned all six p eople were undocumented immigrants who were in the process of getting out of one vehicle and getting into a second when the drivers ran away and left them behind, according to police. The drivers have not been found.

At approximately 6 a.m. Sept. 8, a Buckeye police officer contacted the driver of a suspicious vehicle parked near McDowell Road and Verrado Way.

Based off information provided by the driver, who was unable to produce a driver’s license and has no ties to the community, investigators contacted Border Patrol, according to a release from the Buckeye Police Department.

In the release, the department thanked members of the public “for taking an active role in public safety and reporting suspicious activity.”