Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. has been deported from the U.S. to Mexico, where he faces charges of involvement in organized crime and arms trafficking.
Chávez, 39, is currently being held in a prison in Hermosillo, according to the New York Times.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confirmed the news at her daily press conference.
“I understand he was deported. I don’t know if it was yesterday or this morning, but we were informed that he was arriving in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said.
Chávez had a warrant for his arrest in Mexico, accused of arms and drug trafficking and having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. Alejandro Gertz Manero, Mexico’s attorney general, said the investigation into Chávez started in 2019.
He had been arrested by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in July, just days after fighting influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a high-profile match in Anaheim, Calif.
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Chávez was arrested for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application, U.S. federal officials said after the arrest.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement that Chávez “is also believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization.”
“This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate with an active arrest warrant for trafficking guns, ammunition, and explosives was arrested by ICE. It is shocking the previous administration flagged this criminal illegal alien as a public safety threat, but chose to not prioritize his removal and let him leave and COME BACK into our country,” Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in July.
“Under President Trump, no one is above the law—including world-famous athletes. Our message to any cartel affiliates in the U.S. is clear: We will find you and you will face consequences. The days of unchecked cartel violence are over.”
Sheinbaum said after the arrest that she hoped the boxer would be deported to face his charges.
The 39-year-old boxer was picked up on July 3 by a large number of federal agents while he was riding a scooter in front of a home where he resides in the upscale Los Angeles neighbourhood of Studio City near Hollywood, according to his lawyer, Michael Goldstein.
“The current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,” Goldstein said at the time.
Chávez’s family issued a statement in support of him following his July arrest.
“We have full confidence in his innocence,” they said in a statement to the Los Angeles Times. “We firmly believe that the proper course is to allow the competent authorities to carry out their work without external pressure or speculation.”
DHS had previously shared Chávez’s rap sheet in its announcement, which includes an arrest in 2012 where he was convicted of drunk driving in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail.
It also included an arrest warrant for Chávez in January 2023 for “the offense of organized crime for the purpose of committing crimes of weapons trafficking and manufacturing crimes, in the modality of those who participate in clandestinely bringing weapons, ammunition, cartridges, explosives into the country; and those who manufacture weapons, ammunition, cartridges, and explosives without the corresponding permit.”
He was also arrested on gun charges in January 2024. Police said he possessed two AR-style ghost rifles. He was later freed on a US$50,000 bond and on the condition that he went to a residential drug treatment facility. The case is still pending, with Chávez reporting his progress regularly.
Chávez split his time between Mexico and the United States. ICE officers detained him for overstaying a tourist visa that he entered the U.S. with in August 2023 and expired in February 2024, the Department of Homeland Security said.
Chávez is the son of former boxing three-division world champion Julio César Chávez.
— With files from The Associated Press
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