PALMVIEW – There’s a new push to stop human trafficking in the Rio Grande Valley.

Called “Operation Big Rig”, the goal is to have more eyes on the lookout for trucks used for smuggling.

With this push, U.S. Border Patrol is urging people to call 911 directly to report human smuggling.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS spoke with Sgt. Arnold Sepulveda with Palmview Police Department to see what their protocol is when taking one of these calls.

"We receive calls (like that) I guess you could say on a weekly basis," said Sepulveda.

Even before Operation Big Rig, Sepulveda says their department would receive calls from people reporting human smuggling.

He said they are taking them very seriously, "When it's in regards to life we do need to treat it very carefully and respond accordingly."

In these cases, Sepulveda says the protocol is to contact Border Patrol.

"We actually have channels that we can communicate directly with state and federal agencies," said Sepulveda.

Sepulveda urges people to report these types of activity right away, in these cases, he says every second counts.

On top of contacting Border Patrol or the Department of Public Safety, Sepulveda said they also try to send their units to help.