Wichita ? The suspected leader of an interstate cocaine and methamphetamine ring that funneled drugs through Wichita is on his way back to Kansas for prosecution.

Hector Garcia Jr. of Chandler, Ariz., is being held in Phoenix, where federal agents arrested him earlier this month.

The case against Garcia is believed to be one of the region’s biggest federal drug cases in a decade. He is accused of running a cocaine ring that funneled drugs from Mexico through Wichita to Oklahoma, Colorado, Texas, Arizona, Nebraska and Illinois.

Garcia is expected to arrive in Wichita within two to four weeks for trial, a spokeswoman for U.S. Atty. Eric Melgren said.

His arrest was the result of a three-year Drug Enforcement Agency investigation that ended last month with a grand jury in Wichita returning indictments against Garcia and 42 others people — including 20 from Wichita.

On Monday a federal judge in Phoenix ordered Garcia held without bail pending his return to Wichita.