More than a dozen U.S. postal workers in Atlanta were delivered themselves into the hands of federal investigators when they were caught dropping off kilograms of cocaine in return for cash, authorities say.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said 15 letter carriers and a clerk have been indicted on charges of accepting bribes to deliver quantities of drugs in the metro Atlanta area.

What the USPS workers didn't know was the whole scheme was a sting, U.S. Attorney John Horn said in a news release.

"Postal employees are entrusted to perform a vital service as they travel through our communities, often visiting our homes and interacting personally with our citizens," Horn said. "The defendants in this case allegedly sold that trust out to someone they knew to be a drug dealer, and simply for cash in their pockets they were willing to endanger themselves and the residents on their routes and bring harmful drugs into the community."

David J. LeValley, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Atlanta Field Office called the allegations "disturbing to say the least."

"The blatant abdication of the public trust through the criminal conduct of these sixteen U.S. Postal Service employees, absolutely stains the established trust of their peers and those that went before them at the U.S. Postal Service," LeValley said in the release. "While it is hoped that this extensive joint investigation and resulting federal prosecution will serve as a deterrent for others, the FBI makes it clear that public corruption remains our number one criminal program priority and, as such, we have dedicated significant resources toward the identification, investigation, and presentation for prosecution of any individuals involved in similar such conduct."

The news release cited testimony and evidence to describe the alleged scheme. It said a person the employees believed was a drug trafficker gave them money to ship multiple kilograms of cocaine through the mail into the Atlanta area.

The employees allegedly gave the trafficker special addresses for the shipments, and then intercepted the packages and delivered them to the drug trafficker.

"Unbeknownst to them, the drug trafficker was actually working with law enforcement and the packages they delivered contained fake drugs," the release stated.

Some of the postal employees went on to recruit additional USPS employees to join the criminal scheme, and accepted additional money for drug packages delivered by their recruits.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, DeKalb County District Attorney's Office, and U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General.