Arrest warrants issued for Miss Universe co-owners in latest twist in pageant saga

Raúl Rocha Cantú is under investigation for drug, gun and fuel trafficking while Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip is accused of fraud

This year’s edition of Miss Universe, with its onstage injuries, dramatic walkouts and allegations of vote rigging, was already one for the ages.

But it turns out the drama had barely begun: just days after Fátima Bosch was crowned Miss Universe in Thailand, the co-owners of the organisation are both facing arrest warrants.

On Wednesday Mexican media revealed that Raúl Rocha Cantú, the Mexican businessman who owns half of the Miss Universe Organisation, was under investigation for drug, gun and fuel trafficking between Guatemala and Mexico.

Rocha, whose conglomerate spans industry, casinos and the beauty pageant, has denied wrongdoing. When asked about the case by El País, he said: “It is completely false that I have an arrest warrant.”

The attorney general’s office later confirmed the existence of the investigation and said that arrest orders had been issued for 13 people, among them “Raúl R, about whom there have been various public reports”.

The other half of the Miss Universe Organisation is owned by the Thai media mogul Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, for whom an arrest warrant was also this week issued by a Thai court.

Jakkaphong is accused of fraud by a plastic surgeon, who says she concealed information when persuading them to invest in her company, JKN Global Group.

A verdict for the case was due on Tuesday, but Jakkaphong failed to appear in court – prompting the judge to order her arrest, deeming her a flight risk. Her whereabouts are unclear.

They were the latest twists in a singularly dramatic edition of the Miss Universe competition.

At the start of November Bosch – then Miss Mexico – went viral when she staged a walkout after being berated as “dumb” by the pageant’s director, who singled her out for failing to post promotional content.

After a public outcry, the director gave a tearful apology and claimed he had been misunderstood, and the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, described Bosch as an “example of how we women should speak out”.

Bosch beat the crowd favourite, Miss Thailand, to win the crown – only for allegations of vote rigging to cast a shadow on her triumph.

Days before the final, two of the eight judges quit, with one suggesting that the vote was rigged. The other cited “unforeseen personal reasons”.

Mexican media have also reported on business ties between Rocha and Pemex, the Mexican state oil company where Bosch’s father has worked for decades, prompting Rocha and Bosch’s father to deny that there are any business ties between them personally.

At a press conference on Wednesday, Sheinbaum again came to Bosch’s defence. “[Any investigation of Rocha] is independent of the young woman who won the competition. They want to connect them, but they are different. They want to detract from her achievement.”