Mexico City  - The Mexican beauty queen arrested shortly before Christmas on suspected connections to illegal drugs was Friday ordered to spend 40 days in investigative detention by the state's attorney.

Laura Elena Zuniga Huizar, 23, who is Hispanic America Queen 2008 and was to represent Mexico in the Miss Universe 2009 pageant, is suspected of membership in a criminal organization, possessing illegal weapons and criminal violations of public health.

Suniga insisted at the time of her arrest on Tuesday that she did not know that her lover was a drug dealer and member of the Juarez drug cartel.

She was arrested in Guadalajara along with eight heavily armed men during an anti-drug raid at a checkpoint in Guadalajara, about 600 kilometres northwest of Mexico City.

They were carrying automatic weapons, pistols, 16 mobile phones, 20,000 dollars in cash and munitions, police said. (dpa)