Troops at a vehicle checkpoint in western Mexico have detained a beauty queen and seven men along with guns and cash, police say

The eight were stopped on the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico's second city reportedly following a tip-off. Laura Zuniga, 23, was crowned Miss Sinaloa in July 2008. She reportedly told police she had been planning to travel with the men to Bolivia and Colombia "to go shopping". Regional police director Francisco Alejandro Solorio said that two SUVs were stopped at the checkpoint. The SUV in which Ms Zuniga was found contained a large stash of weapons, including two AR-15 assault rifles, 38 special handguns, 9mm handguns, nine magazines, 633 cartridges and $53,300 in US currency, he added. An unnamed police spokesman said that security forces had received a tip-off that drug-traffickers were moving through the area. "No one expected this young woman to be aboard," the spokesman added. Ms Zuniga came third in the Nuestra Belleza Mexico pageant in Monterrey in September 2008 and was expected to represent Mexico in the 2009 Miss International contest.