Julio César Chávez Backs Son Amid Drug Trafficking Probe: 'If He Was a Narco, I'd Put Him in Jail Myself'

Fewer than two months before Julio César Chávez Jr. is set to return to the ring, his father, Julio César Chávez, publicly declared his support, insisting his son is not a drug trafficker amid an ongoing investigation into drug trafficking–related charges that allegedly link Chávez Jr. with the Sinaloa Cartel.

At a World Boxing Council press conference, Chávez Sr. reiterated his son's innocence and said that if the rumors were true, he would personally turn him in to authorities.

"That is very difficult, truly," Chávez Sr. said of the ongoing investigation into his son. "I have known my son since he was born, right? He is my son, and I also know what he has devoted his life to. If my son were a drug trafficker, I would put him in jail forever myself. That I guarantee you," he added.

Chávez Jr., 38, is being accused by authorities of participating in clandestine arms trafficking, part of a broader investigation that the Mexican Attorney General's Office launched in 2019 against the Sinaloa Cartel. U.S. officials had flagged Chávez Jr. in connection with cross-border smuggling, and Mexican prosecutors eventually tied him to the case.

He was arrested in July by U.S. immigration agents on an active Mexican warrant for alleged organized crime, arms, ammunition and explosives trafficking. After weeks being held at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility, he was deported and transferred to a federal prison in Hermosillo, Sonora.

In late August, Chávez Jr. was released from custody after a judge ordered he be allowed to await trial outside prison.

During the event, Chávez Sr. said his family has faith in the authorities and the legal process. He emphasized that while his son has faced legal troubles over lesser offenses, he has never had ties to drug trafficking.

"Everyone who knows my son Julio knows perfectly well that he is not connected to a drug cartel or weapons or anything like that. Has he had addiction problems? Yes, indeed, just like me. But he is fighting it," Chávez Sr. said.

Earlier this month, Chávez Jr. spoke publicly for the first time since his arrest, referring to the incident as a "shock" in an interview with TUDN.

"I went out to skate and five patrol cars arrived on the second lap," Chávez Jr. said. "When I was first arrested, they took me to a temporary detention center. There, they fill out the paperwork and I thought 'I'm being deported, take me to my dad.' But that's where the ordeal actually began."

He added that he has been told he must sign paperwork each month and that he is allowed to leave the country or box as long as he has a permit and maintains good behavior.

When asked whether he is innocent, he said, "Of course I am. I am not a drug trafficker, and everyone in Culiacán knows that. Beating people on behalf of a cartel? No. Thank God I never had the necessity to do it."

Chávez Jr. is now slated to fight again in December 13, his father said in late September.