Inside Cefereso 11, the Fortress Prison that Housed Julio César Chávez Jr. and Mexico’s Most Dangerous Criminals

Julio César Chávez Jr., the former boxing champion’s son, was deported from the U.S. spent days inside the Centro Federal de Readaptación Social No. 11, commonly known as Cefereso 11, a high‑security federal prison that has housed some of Mexico’s most dangerous and notorious criminals.

On August 18, 2025, authorities handed the former boxing champion’s son over at the Nogales (Dennis DeConcini) port of entry, then moved him to Hermosillo, where he began serving at the maximum-security center under federal custody. He’s accused of organized crime involvement and arms trafficking, facing federal charges in Mexico.

Famous Inmates

Inaugurated on October 2, 2012, during Felipe Calderón’s presidency, alongside then-Secretary of Public Security Genaro García Luna, Cefereso 11 is one of Mexico’s most advanced penitentiary facilities. Constructed under a public‑private partnership (PPP) model, its operation is contracted for approximately 20 years. The coordinating agencies include the federal Órgano Administrativo Desconcentrado Prevención y Readaptación Social.

Covering around 100–104 hectares, roughly five times the size of Mexico City’s Zócalo, it was built with cutting-edge security features inspired by U.S. maximum-security models. More than 1,200 surveillance cameras keep watch over cells, corridors, and outdoor areas. Body scanners and X-ray machines examine every person and object that passes through the gates. Biometric readers, signal jammers, and specialized detection systems were added to prevent the smuggling of weapons, drugs, or cellphones.

These measures, combined with heavily fortified access checkpoints, have created a reputation for Cefereso 11 as a near-impenetrable fortress. Although conceived to hold roughly 2,520 inmates, reports suggest the prison can house up to 4,000. Despite its technological sophistication, aimed at ensuring “zero riots, zero escapes, zero deaths,” it has not been free from violence. In May 2023, a fight between incarcerated men left three dead, all of them serving sentences for homicide or weapons crimes.

Over the years, Cefereso 11 has housed several high‑profile inmates, especially those entangled with organized crime, violent cartels, or security scandals. Among them was Rubén Oseguera González, known as “El Menchito,” the son of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel. Authorities also sent Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, alias “Z-40,” one of the most feared leaders of Los Zetas, to the facility before his extradition to the United States.

Another figure who passed through Hermosillo was Jorge Ortiz Reyes, or “El Tanque,” a founder of La Unión Tepito, the criminal organization based in Mexico City. In addition to cartel leaders, the prison has housed controversial figures such as José Manuel Mireles, the doctor who became a leader of Michoacán’s paramilitary self-defense groups fighting cartels, and Facundo Rosas Rosas, the former federal police commissioner tied to the U.S. “Fast and Furious” gun-running scandal.