The English police freed 18 people from the hold of a refrigerated truck on Tuesday.
The driver had noticed the people near the eastern English city of Peterborough in his vehicle and notified the officials.
There were no casualties and everyone was well, a statement from the Cambridgeshire Constabulary said.
They were handed over to the immigration authorities.
"Stories like this may be harrowing, but they show that slavery and people smuggling are real," it said.
The press release does not provide any further information on the perpetrators or the nationality of the victims.
The incident follows a similar incident last week in which three men were rescued from the back of a truck on the A14 near Brampton.
more on the subject
Appeal process: 71 dead in refrigerated truck - smuggler sentenced to life imprisonment
39 Vietnamese deaths in refrigerated trucks: London court imposes long sentences on people smugglers
Saxony: 31 refugees discovered in refrigerated trucks
Time and again in Great Britain people are smuggled into the country in trucks or go unnoticed in the cargo hold.
The case of 39 people from Vietnam who were found dead in an airtight truck trailer in the southeast of the country in October 2019 caused a sensation.
The smugglers were sentenced to prison terms of up to 27 years.
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