Former Miss Bolivia arrested on gun-trafficking charges

A former Miss Bolivia has been arrested on arms-trafficking charges, while also being investigated in a drug case involving her fugitive boyfriend.

Alondra Mercado Campos, 22 — who was crowned Miss Bolivia Mundo 2020 and Miss Charm Bolivia in 2023 — has found herself locked up in Trinidad Women’s Prison in Beni, Bolivia, on suspicion of gun trafficking, reported the local news outlet Semana.

Mercado Campos’ arrest came a month after Bolivia’s Special Force to Fight Drug Trafficking (FLECN) raided the condominium the pageant contestant shared with her boyfriend, and discovered a large cache of firearms and ammunition, according to the authorities.

During her recent court appearance, a judge ruled that Mercado Campos should be held for 30 days in pre-trial detention after being deemed a flight risk.

Prosecutors are waiting for the results of forensic tests on the 22-year-old’s BMW SUV to determine if she should also be charged with drug offenses.

Investigators believe that Mercado Campos, who has more than 41,000 followers on Instagram, could be connected to a drug-trafficking ring led by her boyfriend, identified by local news outlets as Andres Vasquez.

Photos shared on Mercado Campos’ Instagram and Facebook pages showed the loved-up couple posing happily in a boat and hanging out in a waterfront park with their small white dog.

Gerardo Balderas, the departmental prosecutor of Beni, said videos found on a cellphone seized from Mercado Campos showed her and her boyfriend at several parties with weapons confiscated during the November raid.

Much of Mercado Campos’ social media content consists of sultry snaps of the striking, statuesque brunette modeling a series of skimpy bikinis and glittering evening gowns.    

Her most recent post, dated Dec. 7, included photos of the beauty queen dressed in a skintight minidress standing by a pool. The caption written in Spanish read, in part: “neither past nor future. Only here and now. This moment. What happens now, what you feel and what you live. Enjoy it. Tomorrow we shall see.”

Vasquez is listed as a fugitive from justice after going on the run in late November. He is wanted on an arrest warrant for drug trafficking.