Five people have been indicted in an alleged smuggling ring that transported guns, many of them loaded, on Delta Airlines flights to New York City.

The Brooklyn District Attorney says that from May to December of this year former Delta employee Mark Henry took about 20 flights, carrying guns on them, from Atlanta Hartsfield Airport to both JFK and LaGuardia Airports.

Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson holds up one of the weapons allegedly smuggled on Delta flights.

Henry and three other men are under arrest, including Eugene Harvey – a baggage handler and gate agent for Delta, who used his security clearance to enter restricted areas and hand off the guns.

Surveillance video shows on December 10th, 18 guns, 7 of them loaded, were snuck past security in Atlanta.

Prosecutors say at least 129 handguns and assault rifles, including an AK 47 were smuggled. Some of them were displayed at a news conference on Tuesday.

They say Henry has been smuggling guns on commercial airliners for at least 5 years.

“Security is only as good as the people providing that security,” said Manny Gomez, a security expert. “People have to be policed. There have to be several levels of security and protection so that this doesn’t occur again. This was way too easily done,” Gomez said.

Investigators say the Delta employee somehow got the weapons past security, then used a men’s bathroom to hand off the bag of firearms to a ticketed “gun-runner”. The armed passenger then boarded Delta flight 2352 and flew from Atlanta to New York.

On December 10th, authorities arrested the gun-runner who then shared the details of the gun trafficking operation.

“It doesn’t inspire confidence in the people who are monitoring this,” said Adam Rankin, an airline traveler.

An airlines spokesperson issued a statement saying, “Delta is cooperating with authorities in this investigation. We take seriously any activity that fails to uphold our strict commitment to the safety and security of our customers and employees.”

Authorities investigated Henry’s cellphone, airport surveillance video and security records and determined that he conspired with Harvey to get the firearms past security.

The FBI affidavit says there is probable cause to charge Harvey with trafficking firearms, aiding and abetting and more. It’s unclear if he has an attorney.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report)