drug-filled suitcases, complete with passenger tags, were obvious inside jobs, federal authorities say.

Two major drug smuggling operations landed 12 people behind bars Thursday, all charged in schemes that relied on Northwest/Delta airlines baggage handlers to sneak marijuana and cocaine aboard flights headed for Detroit Metro Airport.

One of the operations shuttled in drugs from Jamaica, while the other involved marijuana flown in from Houston.

According to court documents, drug-filled suitcases would arrive in Detroit, either marked with a red X or with white or black plastic bags tied to their handles for easy identification. The suitcases went from the bellies of the planes to the conveyor belts and then the carousels, documents show. There, drug-trafficking suspects or their hired helpers would scoop them up, then head to airport curbside pickup and drive off with the goods in the trunk, according to documents.

"We knew right away only certain people have the ability to do what these guys did," said Brian Moskowitz, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration Customs and Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations in Detroit. Court records charge that Northwest/Delta airlines baggage handlers at Metro Airport were in cahoots with airport employees in Jamaica. The scheme was discovered on Jan. 23, 2010, when a federal agent learned about a drug seizure by Jamaican Customs involving roughly 53 pounds of marijuana headed for Detroit.

Those charged in the Jamaican operation were: Christopher Bradley, 36, of Inkster; Cordell Coke, 37, of Canton; Kevin Jernigan, 49, of Dearborn Heights; Huram Josephs, 41, of Ypsilanti; Rex Lee, 27, of Dearborn, and Glenford Stephens, 48, of Lathrup Village. All were arrested Thursday and are jailed pending a detention hearing today.

They were charged with importing controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and conspiracy of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

According to a complaint unsealed Thursday, a Northwest/Delta employee in Jamaica used his employee code to prepare and place official Northwest baggage tags on suitcases that contained drugs and were headed for Detroit. The baggage tags had the names of actual, unwitting passengers, authorities said.

Charged in a separate scheme involving baggage handlers shuttling marijuana between Detroit and Houston were: Floyd Adams, 41, of Brawley, Calif.; Kelvin Atwater, 40, of Saginaw; LaDale Callaway, 39, of Houston; Cher Denton, 38, of Detroit; Clifford Skinner, 38, of Detroit, and Yohanis Watson, 37, of Houston. They were all charged with possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

Delta said in a statement that the company has cooperated with the investigation and suspended the employees without pay.