A 4-month-old baby and 18-month-old toddler were left for dead in Arizona desert by smugglers, Border Patrol says

• Border Patrol officials said they found an infant and a toddler who had been abandoned by smugglers.
• They made the discovery after a group of migrants were arrested near Lukeville, Arizona on Thursday.
• The children received medical attention and were released to Border Patrol custody, local reports said.

US Border Patrol officials said they found an infant and a toddler who were apparently abandoned by smugglers in the Arizona desert.

Agents made the discovery after a group of people were arrested crossing the border near Lukeville, Arizona on Thursday, and one of the migrants alerted agents to the children's location, CBS News reported.

The 18-month-old toddler was found crying, and the 4-month-old infant was found unresponsive and face down, the outlet reported. Both children were released into Border Patrol custody after they were taken to a hospital.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief John Modlin said the children had been left for dead by smugglers near the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

"Yesterday smugglers left two young children — an infant and a toddler — in the Sonoran Desert to die," Modlin said in a statement, per CBS. "This is not just another example of smugglers exploiting migrants for money. This is cruelty."

In a tweet, Modlin said agents on the scene revived the unresponsive infant, calling the entire ordeal "gut-wrenching."

"Thankfully, we were able to revive her and avert tragedy. The heartlessness of smugglers cannot be underestimated," Modlin said in a tweet .

No other details about the children were released, per CBS.

Temperatures near Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument reached 95 degrees Fahrenheit on Thursday, according to archives from the National Weather Service .

In June, some 53 migrants were found dead in an abandoned semi-truck in San Antonio, Texas.