HERMOSILLO, Mexico – Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will face trial on charges related to alleged links to the cartel, although he could await the process at liberty, according to his lawyer on Saturday. Rubén Fernando Benítez Álvarez, the boxer’s lawyer, confirmed that the court announced additional measures and granted three months of complementary investigation into the case. These statements were made upon leaving a court hearing in Hermosillo, a city located in northern Mexico. Chávez Jr., who had been residing in the United States for several years, was arrested on July 2 by federal agents outside his home in Los Angeles. The arrest occurred for exceeding the duration of his visa and for alleged falsification in an application to obtain a green card. This arrest occurred a few days after a fight with the renowned American boxer Jake Paul in Los Angeles. Since 2019, the Mexican prosecutor’s office has investigated the 39-year-old boxer following a complaint filed by U.S. authorities against the Sinaloa Cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking. After being detained for almost a month and a half, Chávez Jr. was deported on August 19 and handed over to agents of the Attorney General’s Office in the state of Sonora, who transferred him to the Federal Social Readaptation Center in Hermosillo. The case has led to investigations against 13 people, including Ovidio Guzmán López, son of the drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, as well as several collaborators, hitmen, and accomplices of the criminal organization. Guzmán López was arrested in January 2023 and extradited to the United States eight months later.
This high-profile case has generated attention at a time when pressures are intensifying for Mexico to combat organized crime, including the cancellation of visas for Mexican artists and celebrities and the increase in deportations. The life of Julio César Chávez’s son, one of Mexico’s most successful and popular boxers, has been marked by scandals throughout a career lived in the shadow of his father. Chávez Jr. has had problems with addiction to various drugs for much of his career and has been arrested on multiple occasions. In 2012, he was found guilty of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail. In early 2024, he was arrested for weapons possession. Police reported that Chávez Jr. had two rifles. He was released shortly after posting a $50,000 bail, on the condition that he attend a center for addiction treatment.The hope is that he will be deported and serve his sentence in Mexico.
Claudia Sheinbaum, President of Mexico
