U.S. federal agents have arrested 28 people for allegedly running a cocaine smuggling ring between Honduras and northern Virginia.

Officials say many of the suspects are illegal immigrants from Honduras.

Investigators say that the ring used couriers to import the cocaine into the United States and that once those couriers arrived in the U.S., the drug would be picked up and distributed to dealers in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and Massachusetts.

The defendants allegedly spent six years smuggling millions of dollars of cocaine inside shoes, souvenirs, and wooden frames and wired more than $1 million to their suppliers in Honduras.

Officials say the defendants, who are from all over Maryland and Virginia, face up to 40 years in prison if convicted.