Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was scooped up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for what was described as an “lively arrest warrant” in his native Mexico that tied him to a transnational crime syndicate the Trump administration has designated as a overseas terrorist group.
Chávez, 39, was taken into custody simply days after shedding a bout to social-media-celebrity-turned-boxer Jake Paul on Saturday in Anaheim, California, in line with The Associated Press.
Division of Homeland Safety officers introduced the arrest on Thursday. The company had initially decided that he ought to be arrested on June 27, however didn’t act till after the high-profile bout.
The AP reported that Chávez was picked up Wednesday by “a lot of federal brokers whereas he was driving a scooter in entrance of a house the place he resides within the upscale Los Angeles neighborhood of Studio Metropolis close to Hollywood.”
His lawyer described the arrest as specious.
“The present allegations are outrageous and easily one other headline to terrorize the group,” lawyer Michael Goldstein stated.
Nevertheless, the DHS and ICE stated in a media assertion that Chávez’s file in Mexico, together with an affiliation with the Sinaloa Cartel, warranted expulsion from the U.S.
“Chavez is a Mexican citizen who has an lively arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives,” the news release acknowledged.
“Chavez can be believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a chosen Overseas Terrorist Group,” the discharge added, noting that his try to realize everlasting residency in the USA contained “a number of fraudulent statements” and related him to unhealthy actors.
“On April 2, 2024, Chavez filed software for Lawful Everlasting Resident standing. Chavez’s software was based mostly on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, who’s related to the Sinaloa Cartel via a previous relationship with the now-deceased son of the notorious cartel chief Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzman,” the discharge famous.
And whereas immigration officers deemed Chávez “an egregious public security risk” in December, “an entry in a DHS regulation enforcement system beneath the Biden administration indicated Chavez was not an immigration enforcement precedence.”
“On January 4, 2025, the Biden administration allowed Chavez to reenter the nation and paroled him into the nation on the San Ysidro port of entry,” the DHS launch acknowledged. “Following a number of fraudulent statements on his software to change into a Lawful Everlasting Resident, he was decided to be within the nation illegally and detachable on June 27, 2025.”
“This Sinaloa Cartel affiliate with an lively arrest warrant for trafficking weapons, ammunition, and explosives was arrested by ICE,” Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin stated within the launch.
“It’s surprising the earlier administration flagged this legal unlawful alien as a public security risk, however selected to not prioritize his elimination,”
“Beneath President Trump, nobody is above the regulation — together with world-famous athletes. Our message to any cartel associates within the U.S. is obvious: We are going to discover you and you’ll face penalties. The times of unchecked cartel violence are over.”
It wasn’t clear Saturday morning when Chávez Jr. can be deported, although the AP reported Friday that he was “being processed for expedited elimination.”
Chávez Jr., son of one of many most accomplished boxers and athletes in Mexican historical past, has had his profession marred by a battle with drug dependancy.
Along with quite a lot of failed drug assessments and subsequent suspensions from boxing, CBS News reasonably charitably famous that he’d additionally been “broadly criticized for his intermittent dedication to the game” throughout his profession.
Regardless of that truth, Chávez Jr. turned a world title holder in 2011 on the age of 25 with a victory over German Sebastian Zbik at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. He’s gained 54 of his 63 fights, 34 by knockout, with seven losses and a draw.
His loss to Paul was simply the second battle he’s had since December of 2021, the opposite being a win over Jamaican-American Uriah Corridor by unanimous choice in July of 2024.
In 2012, in the meantime, he was convicted of drunk driving for an incident in Los Angeles and in 2024, authorities picked him up on gun fees, in line with CBS. Whereas that case continues to be pending, authorities let him free on $50,000 bond on the situation that he search drug rehabilitation.
His legal file beneath the border, nevertheless, is considerably extra troublesome. In March of 2023, Mexican authorities issued a warrant in opposition to a “Julio C” on organized crime and firearms trafficking fees, in line with the AP.
A federal agent instructed the AP that “Julio C” is certainly Chávez, though that has not been acknowledged publicly till the DHS media launch appeared to substantiate it.
In Mexico, the AP reported a combined response to the arrest of one of many nation’s best-known athletes.
“I feel that the U.S. authorities — on this case, Trump – is as much as one thing,” Mexico Metropolis newspaper vendor Martín Sandoval Peñaloza instructed the information company, including that the president wished “to draw media consideration.”
Mexico City storekeeper Oscar Tienda wasn’t so certain, nevertheless.
“I feel it was predictable as a result of he has had a lifetime of drug use,” Tienda stated.
This text appeared initially on The Western Journal.
