Washington, Dec 28 (ANI): Laura Zuniga, the 23-year-old Mexican beauty queen arrested in the company of heavily armed, suspected drug traffickers, has been stripped of her crown in the Hispanoamerican Queen pageant, contest organizers said.

Zuniga and seven men were detained at a military checkpoint in central Mexico on December 21.

Police found assault rifles and 55,000 dollars in cash in the luxury vehicles they had been driving.

Zuniga was ordered jailed on December 26 for a further 40 days while investigators probe possible ties to violent smuggling gangs.

The beauty 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, reports Fox News.

Runner-up Vivian Noronha of Brazil will now receive the crown. (ANI)