Fearing that boxer Julio César Chávez may be the target of an attack, for his safety and that of those involved in the transfer to the Hermosillo center, capital of the State of Sonora (northwest), the Mexican Government requested the judge in the case that the next hearing be held via videoconference or in the prison where he is being held for alleged links to drug trafficking.
Last Tuesday, Chavez Jr. was handed over by U.S. authorities to Mexico, where he had an arrest warrant for his arrest, and was subsequently admitted to a maximum security prison in Hermosillo, the Centro Federal de Readaptación Social (Cefereso) 11.
The maximum security prison where the 39-year-old boxer is being held is located in a deserted area at kilometer 33 of Highway 100, which connects Hermosillo with Bahía de Kino. The transfer from the prison to the courtroom crosses more than 40 kilometers through areas where various warring factions of the Sinaloa Cartel operate, including La Chapiza, with which, according to investigations, the accused is linked.
In an official document addressed to the Control Judge, Enrique Hernández Miranda, with the subject “impediment of transfer, videoconference is requested for criminal case 15/2023”, the director of the maximum security prison formally requested that the second hearing of the oral trial “be held without transfers for security reasons”.
“It is requested that the hearing scheduled at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 23, be held from inside the Cefereso, by the alternative method of video conference and/or in the room that is available for such purpose in this Administrative Unit, for the safety and physical integrity of the same (Chávez Jr.) and of the personnel that will carry out the transfer,” the official document states.
Mexican Government’s request for Julio César Chávez Jr.
In the event that the authorities decide to hold the hearing at the headquarters of the Federal Judicial Power, the Security Forces would have to cross with Chavez Jr. through the Sonoran desert and a good part of the city of Hermosillo.
The route is an area where the Salazar faction of the criminal group operates, as well as the so-called Matasalas and La Chapiza, all factions of the Sinaloa Cartel that used to be allies, but have been engaged in a feud for several months that has left more than 200 people dead in executions in the last year.
The fighter, son of the legendary Julio César Chávez, was facing legal proceedings in the United States, where he was arrested in early July for illegal entry and is accused of alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.
According to the file, Chavez Jr. was arrested Monday morning at the Dennis Deconcini border crossing in Nogales, Sonora, and detained in the aforementioned prison.
Chavez’s arrest took place on July 2 in the United States after the fighter lost in a fight in Anaheim (USA) to Jake Paul.
The U.S. government accuses him of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, in addition to not having documents to be legally in the country.
The FGR confirmed that the fighter had an arrest warrant in Mexico since 2023 for organized crime and arms trafficking, reported Agencia EFE.
