Well-known Mexican boxer Julio César Chávez Jr arrested by US immigration

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US immigration brokers have arrested famed Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, 39, and plan to deport him to Mexico the place he has "an energetic arrest warrant... for his involvement in organised crime", US officers introduced on Thursday.

Lower than every week earlier than his arrest, the previous middleweight world champion was defeated by influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul at a match in California.

US officers say he's affiliated with the infamous Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel. His lawyer denied the claims.

"Underneath President Trump, nobody is above the legislation - together with world-famous athletes," a spokeswoman for the Division of Homeland Safety (DHS) mentioned in an announcement following his arrest.

Chavez Jr was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Studio Metropolis, Los Angeles, on Thursday.

His combat in opposition to Paul was in close by Anaheim on Saturday. Chavez Jr is the son of former boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez Sr, who is taken into account to be one of the best boxer in Mexico's historical past.

The DHS assertion mentioned that the "outstanding Mexican boxer and prison unlawful alien" is being processed for "expedited removing" .

"Chavez is a Mexican citizen who has an energetic arrest warrant in Mexico for his involvement in organized crime and trafficking firearms, ammunition, and explosives," the assertion mentioned.

It added that officers imagine that he could also be affiliated with the Sinaloa Cartel, which President Donald Trump designated as a terrorist organisation on his first day again in workplace in January.

Describing the alleged connection, the assertion says he utilized for US everlasting residency final yr as a result of his marriage to a US citizen "who's linked to the Sinaloa Cartel via a previous relationship with the now-deceased son of the notorious cartel chief Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman".

In keeping with US officers, Chavez Jr has been arrested and jailed for a number of offences within the US, many involving weapons.

In January 2024, he was arrested and later convicted for unlawful possession of an assault weapon, officers mentioned.

In 2023, an area decide within the US issued an arrest warrant in opposition to him for allegedly trafficking weapons for a prison organisation. Almost a decade earlier, in 2012, he was arrested for driving with out a licence underneath the affect medicine or alcohol.

He additionally allegedly made a number of fraudulent statements to US immigration authorities in his makes an attempt to achieve everlasting residency and over-stayed a vacationer visa that expired final February.

A lawyer for Chavez Jr known as his arrest "nothing greater than one other headline to terrorise the Latin neighborhood".

Requested in regards to the allegations of a cartel connection, lawyer Michael Goldstein instructed NBC: "That is the primary we have ever heard of those outrageous allegations."

Two weeks earlier than the bout in opposition to Paul, Chavez Jr held a public exercise in LA the place he spoke to the LA Occasions in regards to the large uptick in immigration raids which have swept the town previously month.

He mentioned that his personal coach was afraid to return to work, as a result of concern of deportation.

"I used to be even scared, to let you know the reality. It's extremely ugly," he mentioned, accusing US immigration brokers of "giving the neighborhood an instance of violence".

"I am from Sinaloa, the place issues are actually ugly, and to return right here, to such an attractive nation with every little thing... and see Trump attacking immigrants, Latinos, for no cause. Not being with God makes you suppose every little thing. Trump made a nasty choice."