Ex-Miss England beauty queen arrested in Mexico over £250k drug plot – and told mum she was travelling while in jail | The Sun
A FORMER Miss England beauty queen is facing up to 20 years in jail after allegedly trying to smuggle more than £250,000 worth of drugs into Mexico.
Jennifer Young, 33, was detained in the Mexican resort of Cancun after cops claimed she was found with more than 13kg of ketamine hidden in her suitcase.
The Berlin-born former model, who grew up in Derbyshire, competed in the Miss England beauty pageant in 2007 when she was 17 years old.
She was arrested in August last year for allegedly attempting to smuggle half a million pounds worth of the party drug into the Mexican holiday resort on a flight from the Netherlands.
Sniffer dogs reportedly detected the drugs in packets and bottles hidden in the false bottom of her suitcase which she had brought over from Amsterdam.
The Brit woman's luggage initially passed a security check by Mexican customs officials.
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Young's mother Angela only learned what had happened in March after she didn't receive a call from her daughter to wish her a happy birthday.
The former Miss Derby contestant kept her family in the dark for six months, telling her devastated mother that she was travelling.
She spent months in an overcrowded Cancun jail before being transferred to a prison in the Mexican capital Mexico City in February.
Speaking from her home in Derby, Angela said: "I'm still in shock. I knew Jenny was in Mexico but I thought she was travelling."
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She told MailOnline: "She has been charged with drug trafficking but she hasn't been put on trial yet. She could get a 20-year sentence. I'm so worried."
Young, who was born to a German father and a British mother, has worked abroad as a tour guide and model after leaving Derby at the age of 19.
Her profile appears on a website for tour guides where she offers to show visitors around Berlin for £27 an hour.
In her bio created last year, she wrote: "I'm Jenny, a born Berliner but also half English and speak both languages fluently. In my 32 years on this planet, I've travelled the globe extensively.
"It's my passion and I love it but I always find myself magnetised back to my favourite place – Bangkok. I've lived in many places including Asia, Australia, Canada etc and have explored around 40 countries so far.
"I'm a model and study natural healing. My greatest loves are music, healthy eating, yoga, nature and meeting cool new people! I never get bored and love to try new things."
She added: "I'm very excited about this App and look forward to meeting you and showing you around amazing Berlin!"
Young's mother says that her daughter has received visits from the British Consul to Mexico and is expected to meet with a lawyer soon.
Angela added that she has been speaking to her daughter over the phone from jail, but only for five minutes at a time.
She said that her daughter was getting three meals a day in jail, but that they were "very small portions".
The Foreign Office has confirmed that the British Consul in Mexico is providing assistance to a British national and her family in the UK.
If found guilty, she faces up to 20 years in jail for drug smuggling – one of the most serious crimes in Mexico.
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A Mexican judicial source said in September last year: "A federal Control judge has linked Jennifer L, who is of British nationality, to criminal proceedings, that is her probably responsibility in the commission of the crime of importing narcotics into the country.
"The judge has imposed informal preventative detention as a precautionary measure, resulting in the foreign being confined to the Cancun jailhouse."
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