Aside from the string of controversies hounding the Miss Universe 2025 pageant, organization president and businessman Raul Rocha is facing yet another issue after he was reportedly formally charged in Mexico for alleged trafficking of drugs, firearms and fuel.
As per PEOPLE magazine’s report citing Mexican newspaper Reforma, Mexico’s Fiscalía General de la República (FRG) or Attorney General’s Office charged Rocha-who also serves as a consul of Guatemala in Mexico-for allegedly leading an organization linked to drugs and weapons trafficking as well as smuggling of fuels from Guatemala into Mexico.
During a raid, FRG reportedly obtained documents showing Rocha’s monetary contributions to the criminal enterprise.
The Mexican businessman, as per federal sources, proposed a plea bargain to FGR after an arrest warrant was issued against him back in August. Details of the agreement were not immediately known. The arrest warrant, according to Reforma, states that members of Rocha’s alleged criminal enterprise have ‘connections with politicians and authorities at all three levels of government to deliberately carry out their mission, which includes the sale of hydrocarbons, narcotics, and the trafficking and sale of large quantities of weapons of war.’
Rocha has yet to publicly comment on the matter as of this writing.
Rocha has been making headlines after claims that the results of the recently-held Miss Universe 2025 were predetermined and that Mexico’s Fatima Bosch, who emerged as the titleholder, was a ‘fake winner.’
The executive denied this, saying the organization is taking legal action over the matter. Rocha then said he is already considering selling his 50 percent stake in the organization because he is ‘so fed up with all the talk.’