The DHS announced that ICE has detained ‘prominent Mexican boxer and criminal illegal alien Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and is processing him for expedited removal from the United States.’
His arrest in Los Angeles was made as he had overstayed his B2 tourist visa that expired early last year.
Chavez is a Mexican citizen who has an active arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives. According to DHS, Chavez is believed to be an affiliate of the Sinaloa Cartel, a recently 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,” said Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “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.”
Journalist Luis Chaparro obtained a 2023 apprehension order out of Sonora, Mexico listing a dozen Los Chapitos members including Ovidio Guzman, IAG, “Nini” and at the end of the list, number 13 is Julio César Chávez Carrasco, Jr.
The order states that the boxer likely participated in organized crime, specifically the procurement and/or fabrication of firearms and explosives alongside Mario Alberto Gasper Martinez, “Pokeman,” “El Chuki,” and others.
The DHS also said Chávez submitted multiple fraudulent statements when he applied for permanent US residency on April 2, 2024, based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, Frida Muñoz. She is the mother of a granddaughter of imprisoned Sinaloa cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
He won the WBC middleweight title in 2011 and defended it three times. Chávez shared the ring with generational greats Canelo Álvarez and Sergio Martinez, losing to both. But his boxing career has been in the shadows of his hall of fame father and Junior has struggled with legal and drug issues in the past.
Prior to his recent fight against Jake Paul, the last time he was in the ring was in 2021, at that time, he and his wife announced their divorce but have remained married and were seen at the recent fight together.
Chávez claimed to be clean for the Paul fight. He looked in his best shape in years while preparing for the match. Chávez said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times ahead of his fight with Paul that he and his trainers were shaken by the immigration arrests.
“There are a lot of good people, and you’re giving the community an example of violence,” Chávez said. “After everything that’s happened, I wouldn’t want to be deported.”
Sinaloa Linked Boxing Sponsor
As customary, the two boxers sported several sponsors on their trunks during the fight. Jake Paul’s corner had Celsius Energy Drinks (a competitor to the Prime energy drink owners who are suing Jake Paul) and Fansly sponsors for the fight.
But the most notable sponsor that should spark some comments is the La Carniceria Meat Market along the large band around Chavez’ trunks. The market has rapidly expanded around the Southern California area and the owners have been tied to suspected money laundering and trafficking figures including slain “El Mago” and others with suspected links to the Sinaloa Cartel.
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr’s step-daugther is Mexican singer Frida Sofia Guzman Muñoz, grand-daughter of “El Chapo.”
Connections to Chapo
A few years ago, his wife Frida Muñoz was accused of abusing him both physically and psychologically in 2023. At the time, Chavez was said to have been suffering from addiction issues, and he claimed she pushed him while drunk.
Frida is a US citizen who was the partner of Edgar Guzman Lopez, the late son of “El Chapo” who was killed in 2008 during the internal war against the Beltran-Leyva faction of the Sinaloa Cartel.
In 2015, Frida Muñoz’s bank accounts were frozen by the Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF), as part of the investigation into Chapo’s escape from Altiplano.
However, in 2018, the accounts were released for both Frida and her daughter. She also has two children with Julio.
In January 2022, Julio posted a video on his social media sporting a hat with “El Chapo’s” image across it. Another video was posted speaking about his relationship with Ovidio Guzman Lopez as well.
The son of legendary boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez has held numerous boxing titles and fought several of the most notable boxers of recent years including Canelo Alvarez. Julio Cesar Chavez himself is no stranger to accusations of colluding with and spending time with drug lords during his time in the ring.
One of Julio’s other sons, Omar Chavez, also a boxer, was at the birthday party in Cabo San Lucas when the Sinaloa Cartel sent a hitman, believed to be “Chino Antrax” disguised as a clown to kill AFO leader Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix. The father was invited to the party as well but was not attending.
Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said Friday that Mexico hadn’t previously arrested boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. on a 2023 arrest order, because he had been mostly been in the United States since.
Sheinbaum spoke a day after U.S. authorities announced the boxer’s arrest in California for overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application. He was being processed for expedited removal, according to U.S. authorities.
“The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in Mexico,” Sheinbaum said during her daily news briefing Friday, referring to charges that Chávez faces for arms and drug trafficking.
Following his detention by ICE, his family issued a statement via his X account stating:
Our family is deeply dismayed by the current situation. We fully trust in his innocence and his human quality, as well as in the institutions of justice of both Mexico and the United States, in whom we place our hope so that this situation is clarified in accordance with law and truth. Julio is, above all, a son, a father and a human being who has faced multiple challenges in his personal and professional life. As a family, we respectfully ask that due process of law be guaranteed and that early trials that violate their dignity and that of those around them be avoided.
“The current allegations are outrageous and simply another headline to terrorize the community,” his lawyer Michael Goldstein said.
Goldstein did not know where Chávez was being detained as of Thursday morning, but said he and his client were due in court Monday in connection with prior gun possession charges.
Chavez’ Arrests & Immigration Record
On January 22, 2012, California Highway Patrol arrested Chavez and charged him with DUI alcohol/drugs and Driving Without a License.
On June 23, 2012, the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles, convicted Chavez for the offense of driving under the influence of alcohol and sentenced him to 13 days in jail and 36 months’ probation.
On January 14, 2023, a District Judge issued an arrest warrant for Chavez, 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.
In August 2023, he entered the country legally with a B2 tourist visa that was valid until February 2024.
On January 7, 2024, the Los Angeles Police Department arrested Chavez and charged him with Illegal Possession of Any Assault Weapon and Manufacture or Import Short Barreled Rifle. The court convicted Chavez of these charges.
On April 2, 2024, Chavez filed application for Lawful Permanent Resident status. Chavez’s application was based on his marriage to a U.S. citizen, who is connected to the Sinaloa Cartel through a prior relationship with the now-deceased son Edgar of the infamous cartel leader Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
On December 17, 2024, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services made a referral to ICE that Chavez is an egregious public safety threat. However, an entry in a DHS law enforcement system under the Biden administration indicated Chavez was not an immigration enforcement priority.
On January 4, 2025, the Biden administration allowed Chavez to reenter the country and paroled him into the country at the San Ysidro port of entry. Despite Chavez being flagged as a public safety threat, the Biden administration indicated in internal records he was not an immigration enforcement priority.
Following multiple fraudulent statements on his application to become a Lawful Permanent Resident, he was determined to be in the country illegally and removable on June 27, 2025.
ICE arrested Chavez in Studio City, California on July 2, 2025. And is undergoing extradition proceedings to Mexico.
