Mexican ex-world champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr arrested by US immigration
The fighter, who is alleged to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel, was detained just days after his lopsided loss to influencer Jake Paul
Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jnr has been arrested by US immigration officers and faces deportation from the United States, the US Department of Homeland Security said on Thursday.
Chavez, a former world champion and the son of legendary Mexican fighter Julio Cesar Chavez, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Los Angeles on Wednesday after authorities determined that he was in the country illegally, Homeland Security said in a statement.
Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said the 39-year-old fighter has “an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organised crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition and explosives”.
The Mexican public prosecutor’s office said in a statement later on Thursday that Mexico had issued an arrest warrant for Chavez in 2023 “for organised crime and arms trafficking”. US authorities informed Mexico that they have begun the procedure to send him home, it added.
Homeland Security said Chavez is believed to have ties to the Sinaloa cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organisations by the US.
Chavez’s arrest comes days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sell-out crowd at the Honda Centre in Anaheim, California.