Delta Air Lines baggage handler charged this week in an international drug smuggling scheme was no stranger to the feds or airport security personnel.

Delta Air Lines baggage handler charged this week in an international drug smuggling scheme was no stranger to the feds or airport security personnel.

According to records in U.S. District Court in Detroit and airport officials, Cordell Coke had his Detroit Metro Airport security badge revoked in 2002 after he lied on his badge application by submitting a fake Social Security number.

He pleaded guilty in 2003 to possessing a Social Security card that was produced illegally -- a misdemeanor for which he paid a $525 fine, records show. He didn't serve any jail time. His security badge was reinstated in 2004.

"A misdemeanor of this type does not disqualify you from getting a badge," said Michael Conway, communications director for the Wayne County Airport Authority.

Coke, 37, of Canton was one of nine defendants -- eight of them baggage handlers -- released on bond Friday after being charged in connection with a drug-smuggling operation at Detroit Metro Airport that relied on airport workers sneaking suitcases filled with drugs past security. Authorities say Coke was part of a scheme that ran marijuana and cocaine from Jamaica to Detroit by stashing the drugs in suitcases aboard Detroit-bound flights.

The bust was one of two Thursday involving a total of $4 million worth of drugs, federal authorities revealed Friday.

Angela Coke, Coke's ex-wife, was in court Friday. She said she believes her ex-husband is innocent and that he's being targeted because he is of Jamaican descent.

"I don't believe that he did it," she said, adding her ex-husband does not live extravagantly. "He drives a piece of crap car that I have to push in the street. ... He doesn't even have cable, for crying out loud."

Mary Donnelly, whose Jamaican husband, Huram Josephs, also is facing drug charges in the Jamaican operation, echoed similar sentiments.

"This is not the man I've known for 10 years," said Donnelly, who is weeks away from having a baby. "There have been no red flags, no extra money for God's sake. We have used cars. He works mega overtime."

According to Donnelly, Josephs has worked at Metro Airport for 17 years with no troubles.

Josephs, 41, of Ypsilanti, a Delta baggage handler, was released on bond and ordered to remain on a tether while the case is pending.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub also ordered the following defendants released on bond: Glenford Stephens, 48, of Lathrup Village; Rex Lee, 27, of Dearborn; Kevin Jernigan, 49, of Dearborn Heights, and Christopher Bradley, 36, of Inkster. All were charged in the Jamaican operation.

Majzoub also released on bond other defendants charged in a separate drug operation that involved marijuana being flown in from Houston. Those defendants were: Clifford Skinner, 38, of Detroit; Cher Denton, 38, of Detroit, and Kelvin Atwater, 40, of Saginaw.

They face charges that include conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute and illegal importation of narcotics.

They face up to life in prison if convicted.