Eighteen people face possible life sentences after being caught smuggling drugs after their flight was diverted to Bermuda because of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The gang, including airline baggage handlers and a New York City chef, have been charged in a scheme to smuggle thousands of kilograms of cocaine to the East Coast.

One 100-kilogram shipment was seized from a Puerto Rico flight bound for Newark, New Jersey, after it was diverted to Bermuda, according to an Associated Press report.

A complaint filed in federal court in Brooklyn accuses Benjamin Ramos, 34, of Marietta, Georgia, of running the US arm of an international drug ring that smuggled cocaine from the Dominican Republic to the United States via Puerto Rico.

The chef, Alejandro Garcia, 34, allegedly made cash payments to corrupt airline employees and drug couriers in the rear office of a restaurant. Authorities were investigating whether drug proceeds were invested in other New York restaurants.

Ramos and Garcia were ordered held without bail following arraignments. A two-year investigation revealed the drugs were transported by boat from the Dominican Republic to Puerto Rico, where they were stashed in suitcases, court papers said.

The ring recruited baggage handlers from Continental Airlines and other commercial carriers to check in the suitcases under the names of unsuspecting passengers flying to New York, Newark, New Jersey and other US destinations. Once they arrived, other baggage handlers would sneak the luggage off of carousals and hand them off to couriers.

If convicted of drug conspiracy charges, the defendants face a possible life sentence.

On September 13, 2001, reported that Bermuda Police narcotics and Customs officers discovered a ?significant? amount in a man?s luggage on a Continental airlines flight.

At that time a police spokesperson could not confirm that a passenger had been arrested. The drugs were spotted as passengers and their luggage were unloaded.