In Sinaloa's capital, news of a boxing scion's arrest and allegations of cartel ties cause unease
The event Friday was organized by one of Chávez's brothers and 'The Legend' himself was advertised as a specially invited guest. But Chávez didn't appear. It had been a difficult week for the family.
Chávez's eldest son, Julio César Chávez Jr., was arrested by U.S. immigration agents outside his home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, accused of overstaying his visa and lying on a green card application.
But more significant here in Culiacan was that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security also noted that there was an active warrant for his arrest in Mexico for alleged arms and drug trafficking and suggested ties to the Sinaloa Cartel. The agency said he would be processed for expedited removal.
The Legend
The name Julio César Chávez in Culiacan is like saying Diego Maradona in Argentina. People stop and conversations begin.
Chávez is the city's idol and source of pride, known simply as 'The Legend.' He went from a working class neighborhood along train tracks to the highest echelons of boxing fame and became a national hero.
But when the questions turn to Chávez's eldest son and the Sinaloa Cartel, conversation ends and eyes avert.
There was a time when many in Culiacan would speak of the cartel that carries their state's name, perhaps with euphemisms, but openly all the same, because its control was complete and for that they largely lived in peace.
But since a bloody feud erupted between factions of the cartel last year, following the abduction of Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada to the United States by one of the sons of former leader Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, it's safer to avoid any mention at all.
Alleged cartel ties
In the stands Friday night, the arrest of The Legend's son, was on the minds of many, but discussed only in hushed voices.
Óscar Arrieta, a sports reporter in Culiacan, covers boxing and said Chávez Jr.'s arrest had had a big impact in Culiacan, largely because the 'harsh' way U.S. authorities linked him to organized crime.
U.S. authorities did not detail the alleged ties between Chávez Jr. and the cartel other than to mention that he married a U.S. citizen who is the mother of a granddaughter of Guzmán.
He mused at why if there had been a Mexican arrest warrant since 2023, hadn't there been any effort to capture him. He was a very public figure, active on social media and for the past six months or more, training for a highly promoted fight in California.
On Friday, Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said that he had mostly been in the U.S. since the arrest warrant was issued.
'I think it was also a way for the United States to expose the Mexican government in a way, but without a doubt much more impactful, because normally sports doesn't mix with anything else, much less with organized crime,' Arrieta said.
'An excellent person'
Culiacan's boxing gyms had mostly been quiet since Thursday's announcement of Chávez Jr.'s arrest, in preparation for Friday's event.
There had already been weigh-in for Friday's fights and most fighters weren't around.
At one that was mostly covered outdoor spaces, teenagers tightly wrapped their wrists, bounced and shuffled, shadow boxing in a circle.
Jorge Romero is a former professional boxer who trained under another Chávez brother. Now he's a trainer at Sinaloa Autonomous University.
Romero said he knows Chávez Jr., regards him 'an excellent person, a great human being' who had really focused on his training ahead of his bout in California just a week ago. He expressed full support for him.
Questions of ties between Chávez Jr. and organized crime, Romero said, were 'too delicate' to touch. But in general, he said boxing and the cartel walked separate paths in Culiacan.
'We don't have anything to do with organized crime,' he said. 'On the contrary, it's a clean sport, very healthy from my point of view.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
11 hours ago
- Daily Record
World's most violent cartel operates like corporate business to run global drug-smuggling empire
How murder and kidnapping has made the Mexican Sinaloa Cartel the most feared and powerful drugs cartel in the world. Dealing vast quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and fentanyl – a drug 100 times more potent than heroin - is all in a day's work for the the most violent cartel in the world. Add in weapons trafficking, money laundering, gun battles, kidnapping and murder, and it's clear that few groups are as brutal as Mexico's feared Sinaloa Cartel. The organisation traces its roots to the city of Culiacan, capital of Mexico's western Sinaloa state, in the 1960s when Pedro Aviles Perez – known as El Leon de la Sierra, or The Mountain Lion – became one of the first traffickers to use aircraft to smuggle drugs into the US. The modern incarnation evolved in the late 80s, the cartel emerging from the remains of others dismantled by law enforcement in the region. A boom period in the demand for narcotics, particularly cocaine and heroin in the US, provided the opportunity for vast profits. Rivals or anyone who stood in its way were ruthlessly dispatched. The group also systematically corrupted officials, realising that a pay-off was the best way to ensure the drugs reached the market. Once an official was on the payroll, there was no way out. Via its ruthless but effective leadership, willing footsoldiers and the never-ending demand for drugs, the Sinaloa grew throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Law enforcement estimated that Mexican cartels were responsible for 90 per cent of the cocaine smuggled into the US. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. The Sinaloa became the dominant cartel, expanding into neighbouring states of Mexico such as Baja California, Sonora and Chihuahua. Crucially, these states in the north shared direct land borders with the US, thereby providing even more direct routes into that market. The successful battle for supremacy with the Tijuana Cartel in Baja California in particular brought with it increasing dominance for the Sinaloa. Tijuana founder Ramon Arellano Felix had been responsible for the murder of two key Sinaloa figures in the 90s, a move which sparked all-out war between the two cartels. Arellano Felix was shot dead by law officers in Sinaloa state in 2002 after being stopped for traffic offences, a move said to have been initiated on the instructions of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin ' El Chapo ' Guzman. Arellano Felix's older brother Francisco, another key Tijuana figure, was arrested weeks later. The Tijuana ended up effectively becoming absorbed into the Sinaloa. As far back as the 90s, the Sinaloa had been estimated by law enforcement to have become as large and powerful as the Medellin group, founded in Colombia by the legendary Pablo Escobar. Further expansion by the Sinaloa in the years since suggests it has now usurped even the Medellin cartel in its prime, with annual drugs shipments in the billions of dollars. The Sinaloa has perfected the advanced use of tunnelling to smuggled its drugs. In 2011, one 'super tunnel' was uncovered under the runway of Tijuana Airport, adjacent to the Mexico-US border. The 1800-foot excavation was fitted with lifts and rail cars used to ferry drugs across the border. The Sinaloa cartel operates a 'management' structure akin to that of any multinational company. A hierarchy chart compiled from intelligence sources two years ago shows 'departmental heads', including five bosses in the chemical supply section, four clandestine lab managers, four chiefs in its fentanyl trafficking section, four in security and weapons trafficking, and three 'illicit financiers'. At the top were three chiefs claimed to be the overall leaders, including Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 35, who was captured in 2023. The son of Sinaloa founder El Chapo, he pleaded guilty in July 2025 to charges linked to drug trafficking and running a cartel. Also among those captured was glamorous Gucci-loving Sinaloa chief Ana Gabriela Rubio Zea, 35, a Guatemalan national accused in relation to supplying fentanyl into the US. Despite these setbacks, the Sinaloa remains active and hugely powerful, its number of members and associates running into the tens of thousands spread across dozens of countries. Such is the dominance of the Sinaloa, it has even taken over trafficking cocaine from Colombia to worldwide markets. For years now, the Sinaloa has been thought by many to be the biggest and most powerful drug cartel in the world but that has not stopped it linking up with fellow groups. Experts have long since believed the group has global links, including to Ireland's Kinahan cartel. Mammoth drug seizures in recent years, including £135million of cocaine uncovered off Cork two years ago, suggest that region has been identified as a point of entry for drug shipments. As far back as 2016, one former Peruvian anti-narcotics chief said it was 'without question' that the Kinahan group was working with the Sinaloa. Other allegiances are understood to have been formed by the Mexican cartel with mafia groups in north African and southern Europe. Despite inroads by law enforcement in recent years against the Sinaloa – particularly in the US – it remains to be seen whether this powerful and vast cartel can ever be fully dismantled.
The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Mexican President rules out Trump's reported plan against drug cartels
Sheinbaum comments are in response to a New York Times report Aug. 8 that President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. military to target transnational fentanyl traffickers that use Mexico as a base of operations. The Times said Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force on foreign soil against cartels. In February, the U.S. designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, which some analysts have warned could be a stepping stone to such military action. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed the new directive to Reuters but said military action against the designated groups did not appear imminent and it was unclear exactly what type of operations they would carry out. Trump has long said publicly that the U.S. would take unilateral military action if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels. That has put Washington at odds with its southern neighbor and key trading partner. Sheinbaum, in return, has pushed Trump to do more to stop the flow of high-powered American-made guns from the U.S. into Mexico. The two leaders have had several calls this year to discuss security issues, trade and immigration. Sheinbaum has made similar comments before, including after a May 2 Wall Street Journal report that said Trump was pressuring Mexico to allow deeper U.S. military involvement against drug cartels on both sides of their shared border. "In one of the calls, (Trump) said, 'How can we help you fight drug trafficking? I propose that the U.S. Army come in to help you,' " said Sheinbaum, who was speaking at a university event near the capital of Mexico City on May 2. "And you know what I told him? No, President Trump, the territory is sacrosanct, sovereignty is sacrosanct, sovereignty is not for sale, sovereignty is loved and defended," Sheinbaum said. While the two countries can collaborate, she said, "we will never accept the presence of the United States military in our territory." "We can collaborate, we can work together, but you can do it in your territory, we can do it in ours," Sheinbaum said. Trump reportedly considered military action in Mexico during his first term. His former defense secretary, Mark Esper, wrote in his memoir that Trump asked at least twice in 2020 if the military could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs." Esper wrote that he replied that it would be illegal and an act of war.
Reuters
5 days ago
- Reuters
Trump administration eyes military action against drug cartels, US officials say
Aug 8 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump's administration can use the military to go after Latin American drug gangs that have been designated as global terrorist organizations and has directed the Pentagon to prepare options, U.S. officials said. The Trump administration designated Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel and other drug gangs as well as Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua as global terrorist organizations in February, as Trump stepped up immigration enforcement against alleged gang members. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday the administration could now use the military to go after cartels. "It allows us to now target what they're operating and to use other elements of American power, intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, whatever... to target these groups if we have an opportunity to do it," Rubio said. "We have to start treating them as armed terrorist organizations, not simply drug dealing organizations." The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump had secretly signed a directive to begin using military force against the groups. A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that move but said military action against the designated groups did not appear imminent and it was unclear exactly what type of operations they would carry out. A second U.S. official said the authority would, among other things, give the U.S. Navy the authority to carry out actions at sea and could include drug interdiction operations. Operations could also include targeted military raids. The U.S. military has already been increasing its airborne surveillance of Mexican drug cartels to collect intelligence to determine how to best counter their activities. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Friday that members of the U.S. military would not be entering Mexican territory. Sheinbaum said her government had been informed of a coming order but that it had nothing to do with the U.S. military operating on Mexican soil. Any move to use U.S. military forces against cartels could raise legal questions. Brian Finucane, with the International Crisis Group, has written that military action in Mexico would "be hard to square with domestic or international law." "Even though U.S. military action in Mexico would almost certainly be unlawful, as a practical matter such illegality may not serve as an effective impediment," Finucane said after the February global terrorist designations. Trump has previously offered to send U.S. troops to Mexico to help Sheinbaum combat drug trafficking, an offer Sheinbaum said in May she had refused. He has said publicly the U.S. would take unilateral military action if Mexico failed to dismantle drug cartels. Sheinbaum has called any such action a violation of Mexico's sovereignty. Trump considered military action in Mexico during his first term. His former defense secretary, Mark Esper, wrote in his memoir that Trump asked at least twice in 2020 if the military could "shoot missiles into Mexico to destroy drug labs." Esper wrote that he replied that it would be illegal and an act of war. Washington's actions to prosecute and combat cartel activity in Mexico have caused tension with its southern neighbor, which sees them at times as challenges to Mexican sovereignty. Sheinbaum on Friday questioned U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi's accusation a day earlier that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was linked to the Sinaloa Cartel, saying Mexico was not investigating alleged ties and had no evidence of such, and that if Washington did, it should share it.
