Drug arrest costs her pageant title
A Mexican beauty queen detained on suspicion of drug and weapons violations has been stripped of her crown in the Hispanoamerican Queen pageant, organizers said.
Laura Zuniga, 23, was stripped of first-place honors for “failure to comply with the regulations of the title she represents,” Bolivia-based pageant organizing company Gloria Promociones said in a statement. She beat more than 19 contestants from Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States to win the title in October.
Runner-up Vivian Noronha of Brazil will receive the crown.
The company statement did not specify what pageant rules were broken by Zuniga, who was detained in western Mexico on Dec. 22 along with seven men, some of them suspected drug traffickers. Authorities found a large stash of weapons, ammunition and $53,300 with them inside a vehicle.
Zuniga told police the group had planned to travel to Bolivia and Colombia to go shopping.
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