Nearly 60 illegal immigrants were found cramped inside the back of a tractor-trailer on Friday at the US border in Texas.

A picture released by US Customs and Border Protection shows 59 men and women cramped into the truck, trying to cover their faces after a canine officer alerted authorities to contraband inside the large truck.

Members of the group were from Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras and Peru, and the driver and front passenger were both United States citizens.

59 illegal immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Honduras and Peru were found inside a tractor trailer trying to cross through the US border (pictured)

Border Patrol agents arrested the driver and passenger and seized the truck.

Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta said people smugglers were running a business and not trying to help those wishing to cross the border.

'These criminal organizations view these individuals as mere commodities without regard for their safety,' he said.

'The blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these organizations and prosecute those responsible.'

Homeland Security is continuing to investigate the border crossing attempt.

Border patrol authorities said people smugglers had a 'blatant disregard for human life' and the two US citizens at the front of the truck have been arrested

Drivers are usually paid a fee per person to smuggle illegal immigrants across the border, but face lengthy prison sentences if they are caught.

On the same day the group of 59 were discovered in the trailer, James Mathew Bradley Jr. was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

The 61-year-old was arrested in a Walmart parking lot near San Antonio, Texas, after authorities found 39 people in the back of his truck.

Of those 39, eight were dead, and two would die later in hospital.

The group traveled on a 101 degree day in July, and the refrigeration in the truck was broken.

There was no water given to the would-be-immigrants and many of them were hospitalized for heat issues.