While Miss France has chosen to withdraw from Miss Universe 2026, due to the scandals surrounding co-owner Raúl Rocha, wanted by Mexican justice for money laundering, drug trafficking and fuel trafficking, the international organization of the competition is now trying to regain control by promising a future French representative a spectacular gift package: 50.000 euros, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a residence in Paris, a paid reign, a luxury wardrobe and an all-expenses-paid trip to Puerto Rico.
On paper, the offer sounds like a fairy tale. In reality, it raises a much more serious question: where does the Miss Universe Organization finance these gifts? Behind this charm offensive lies an organization weakened by controversies and suspicions surrounding its co-owner, Raúl Rocha Cantú. The Mexican businessman, who has become one of the central figures of the Miss Universe Organization, is implicated in a Mexican investigation linked to suspicions of organized crime, money laundering, fuel smuggling, drug trafficking, and ties to criminal networks. His accounts and assets have been frozen by the Mexican justice system. The other co-owner of Miss Universe, the Thai group JKN Global Group, headed by Anne Jakapong Jakrajutatip, is in the same situation. The Miss Universe Organization is therefore currently living solely off dirty money. In other words, at the very moment when Miss France refuses to endorse Miss Universe, the international organization responds by promising a French candidate luxury gifts financed by a structure funded by the dirty money of Mexican cartels!
A French candidate was lured with luxury gifts.
No one is fooled by this little scheme! Since the Miss France organization no longer wants to send a representative to Miss Universe, the international organization intends to circumvent this refusal by choosing a French candidate itself. To make the operation more appealing, it is highlighting a shower of rewards rarely seen at this level. The future "Miss Universe France" is thus promised 50.000 euros, a Mercedes-Benz C-Class, a paid reign, a residence in Paris, luxury clothing and accessories, as well as a trip to Puerto Rico to participate in Miss Universe 2026. But what is presented as a "prize fit for a queen" looks more like an attempt to buy back lost legitimacy. Miss France has abandoned ship. Miss Universe is now trying to recruit in France through luxury, money, and privileges. The problem is that this money arrives at a time when the competition is rocked by accusations of cheating, a lack of transparency, and close ties between its co-owner and Mexican criminal networks.
Raúl Rocha, the name that embarrasses Miss Universe
Raúl Rocha is one of the co-owners of the Miss Universe Organization. His name is now at the heart of the controversies surrounding the pageant. A crucial question arises: how can an organization partly run by a man with ties to Mexican cartels promise tens of thousands of euros and luxury gifts to a French contestant? The silence surrounding the exact origin of these funds is problematic. No clear explanation is provided regarding the financing of these gifts. No transparency mechanisms are put in place. No public guarantees exist to eliminate the risk that these benefits are linked, directly or indirectly, to money from dubious sources.
Gifts that reek of an attempt to whitewash their image
The timing of the coverage of Miss Universe France also raises questions. Miss France withdrew from Miss Universe precisely because the international organization had become too controversial. Instead of addressing concerns with transparency, Miss Universe responds with gifts: a car, money, a residence, luxury goods, a trip. The maneuver is crude, almost pathetic. It gives the impression that the organization is trying to compensate for its lack of credibility with a display of wealth. But this wealth is now inextricably linked to the suspicions surrounding Raúl Rocha. Consequently, every euro promised to the future French candidate becomes a source of suspicion. Every gift becomes embarrassing. Every material advantage raises the same question: is it money from a beauty pageant, or dirty money from Mexican criminal networks laundered for a glamorous operation? Miss Universe sells an image of prestige. But behind the glitz, the organization now carries the shadow of the Mexican mafia.
A future Miss caught in a scandal
The candidate who accepts this offer will inherit an explosive situation. She would become the French representative in a competition that Miss France refused to endorse. She would accept gifts of dubious origin and wear a crown shrouded in suspicion, in a competition already weakened by accusations of cheating and internal manipulation. In short, she would be nothing less than a token of support for money laundering by Mexican cartels. She would unwittingly become the symbol of a public relations campaign designed to salvage the image of Miss Universe in France.
The real question is: who pays?
Miss Universe can promise gifts. She can display cars, tickets, dresses, and apartments. She can try to win over a French candidate despite the official withdrawal of Miss France. But she cannot avoid the central question: who pays?
Until the organization provides a clear explanation of the funds' origin, these gifts will remain suspicious. As long as Raúl Rocha remains linked to investigations into money laundering, fuel trafficking, cartels, and organized crime, the money promised to a future Miss Universe France will carry an indelible stain. And the threat of legal repercussions looms large. Today, Miss Universe gives the impression of trying to buy off a French representative with lavish gifts, but the shadow of Mexican dirty money hangs over the organization more than ever.
