Texas Man Remotely Ran Drug Ring In Kansas

The town of Teague, Texas was the base for a major drug ring in Kansas.

According to a press release from the Drug Enforcement Agency, Jorge Portillo-Uranga, 36, ran a drug ring that distributed cocaine to the the Kansas City metro area. Portillo-Uranga has since been sentenced to 21 years in federal prison.

Court documents state that the DEA began an investigation in 2016 of a drug trafficking organization headed by Portillo-Uranga that was selling kilogram quantities of cocaine and marijuana to buyers in the Kansas City metro area.

The headquarters for Portillo-Uranga's operation was his home in Teague. Authorities were able to intercept Portillo-Uranga's communications to his workers as he instructed them to traffic cocaine from Texas to Kansas.

Portillo-Uranga pleaded guilty to seven felony counts, including conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and using a telephone in furtherance of drug trafficking. In various conversations, Portillo-Uranga expressed his suspicions that some of the traffickers were skimming cocaine from the shipments.