Laura Elena Zúñiga Huizar was a Mexican model and beauty queen, at the center of a drug trafficking scandal in December 2008. On 30th October 2008 she participated in Reina Hispanoamericana (Hispanic-American Queen) representing Mexico in Santa Cruz, Bolivia bringing the title to Mexico for the first time.
On 22nd December 2008, Laura Zuñiga was arrested in Zapopan, Jalisco, along with seven men who allegedly carried US$53,000 in cash, two AR-15 rifles, three handguns, 633 cartridges of different calibers, and 16 cellphones.
The Nuestra Belleza Mexico organization released a statement saying it had no knowledge of Zuñiga's alleged narco-trafficking ties and that it would decide pending an investigation whether or not to let her keep her crown. On 25th December 2008, a second statement was released announcing that Zuñiga had been stripped of her title as Miss Mexico International 2009. Her successor, Anagabriela Espinoza, was awarded the crown. On 26th December 2008, she was dethroned as Reina Hispanoamericana 2008 and replaced by Vivian Noronha Cia from Brazil.
The critically acclaimed 2011 film Miss Bala (Miss Bullet) is loosely based on Zúñiga and her involvement in the events of December 2008.