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There’s a new twist to report in human trafficking. It’s about smugglers that you’d expect to find studying, but instead the high school students are helping illegals sneak into the U.S.

A crackdown on coyotes, or illegal immigrant smugglers, has traffickers looking for new strategies.

“The trend has been shifting to juveniles,” said Todd Garrison, Dona Ana County Sheriff.

The sheriff of this county that borders Mexico told us his deputies noticed about six months ago the smugglers were getting Younger.

“High school kids. Yeah, high school kids,” said the sheriff.

U.S. citizens, if caught, face lesser penalties and are rarely prosecuted. It’s an attractive combination for criminal smuggling organizations.

“It’s a very scary business to get into but these young kids are

brought into it at a young age and the pull is money. I’ve heard of people who want to do it but I don’t know anybody who does,” said an unidentified person..

The few area students we talked to said some students would probably want the lucrative part time job.

“I’m sure any kid would take that risk. Well not any kid, but a lot of kids would because kids want money,” said one student.

“I know they walk away with rolls of money. They get paid well for what they do,” said another student.

For student’s it’s the lure of easy money.  For smugglers, loopholes in the law make teens attractive.

The U.S. attorney has prosecuted a few minors caught multiple times smuggling immigrants across the border.

Under federal law the teens must be released at age 21.

With profits high and punishment low, this sheriff predicts the strategy of using student smugglers will grow.