(NewsNation) — The number of migrant encounters along the southern border has dropped this week, but human smuggling still remains a booming business.

As NewsNation was at the border, a smuggler on the Mexican side walked around a silver car before 25 men started pouring out. Most of them were from Brazil and they said they had no friends or family in the U.S.

It’s all orchestrated, with one smuggling tactic being the use of “bait migrants” to see what they can get through. First, a young woman from Colombia and a little boy crossed over. Then, 15 minutes later, the men were running through the desert.

It’s not clear if the men were picked up by Border Patrol. This month alone, CBP has reported more than 44,000 “gotaways,” the term used for migrants who are observed crossing the border illegally but aren’t apprehended.

In the Del Rio sector, a pursuit between a human smuggler and Texas DPS in Uvalde County earlier this month ended with people bailing out of the vehicle in an attempt to evade law enforcement. Two of the men were carrying methamphetamine in their backpacks.

Del Rio Sector Chief Jason Owens says the cartel is making $33 million a week off human smuggling alone.

CBP continues to warn people against using smugglers to enter the U.S.

“Human smuggling organizations continue to pose a danger to migrants seeking to enter the United States without proper authorization,” Owens said. “The tactics used by transnational criminal organizations are dangerous and often fatal. Moreover, smugglers charge exorbitant amounts of money. Noncitizens are advised to pursue legitimate pathways to migration.”

Lawmakers and law enforcement across the nation say every state is a border state at this point. Gov. Brad Little of Idaho knows the impact and the success the cartels are having.

“The worst part of this situation is there are two cartels that control the border on the Mexican side. Any chaos on the border gives them more opportunity to smuggle drugs, humans, whatever kind of contraband, and these cartels are making millions of dollars a year and we have got to secure the border,” Little said.

The cartels are also battling each other over the migrant pathways, and agents are getting caught in the middle. CBP now confirms two separate shooting incidents in just a matter of days in the San Diego sector. The latest was Monday, and agents were actually tending to an injured 4-year-old boy when they reported gunfire in their direction. Just days before that, agents reported gunfire coming at them from the Mexico side.

Both incidents are being investigated.