A former Miss England beauty queen faces 20 years in a hellish Mexican prison for suspected drug trafficking, MailOnline can reveal.
Jennifer Young was arrested when she arrived from Amsterdam last August when she tried to smuggle more than £250,000 worth of ketamine into Cancún airport.
The 33-year-old fashion model is said to have hidden 13,080 kg of the drug in packages and bottles on a double floor in her suitcase.
Young, a contestant on Miss Derby when she was 17, spent months in an overcrowded prison in Cancun before being transferred to a prison near Mexico City in February.
She kept her family in the dark about her plight for over six months, telling her heartbroken mother Angela that she was just traveling across the country.
Jennifer Young, 33, seen during her modeling days, was arrested in Mexico for allegedly trying to smuggle more than £250,000 worth of ketamine into Cancun airport
Former Miss England beauty queen Young, who was born in Berlin but grew up in Derby, risks 20 years in a hellish Mexican prison as she faces drug trafficking charges
Young is said to have hidden 13,080 kg of party drug ketamine in packages (photo) and bottles in a double bottom in her suitcase
However, she only learned the truth five weeks ago when her only daughter failed to call to wish her a happy birthday.
Speaking to MailOnline from her home in Derby, Angela told MailOnline: ‘I’m still in shock. I knew Jenny was in Mexico, but I thought she was traveling. I just found out Jenny’s in jail.
“It’s my birthday in March and no matter where in the world Jenny is, she’s calling me. But she didn’t get in touch and I started to worry.
“Then I got a message from her boyfriend. I asked him where she was. After many messages he finally told me she was in jail. I could not believe it.
Then I found out the whole story. That she had been in jail in Cancun for months. It was terribly busy. I don’t know how many people were in her cell, but it was terrible.
But in February she was transferred to another prison outside Mexico City. She has been charged with drug trafficking, but she has not yet been brought to justice. She could face up to 20 years in prison. I’m so worried.’
Young, who was born in Germany to a British mother and German father, has spent much of her life working abroad as a model and tour guide, having left her hometown of Derby at the age of 19.
In an online travel guide blog she wrote last year, she wrote: ‘I’m Jenny, a native of Berlin but also half English speaking both languages fluently. In my 32 years on this planet, I have traveled a lot around the world.
‘It’s my passion and I love it, but I always find myself magnetized back to my favorite place – Bangkok.
Fresh-faced Young was a Miss England contestant for Derby when she was 17 in 2007
Young’s mother Angela told MailOnline she is heartbroken that her daughter is incarcerated in Mexico and said she only recently learned she was in jail awaiting trial
‘I have lived in many places including Asia, Australia, Canada, etc. and have explored about 40 countries so far. I’m a model and study naturopathy.’
She added, “My greatest loves are music, healthy eating, yoga, nature and meeting cool new people!”
During her imprisonment, Jenny received a visit from the British consul in Mexico. She is expected to meet with a lawyer this week to discuss her trial.
Angela added: ‘The British Consulate visited her last Wednesday. She is doing well now that she has a cell of her own. It’s much better than the other place.
‘Prisoners are allowed to receive visits from relatives. Relatives bring in food and other things.
“Jenny says she gets three meals a day, but those are very small portions. She waits for the lawyer to see her.
“She had called me before, but didn’t say she was in trouble.
“She called me from prison. She only gets five minutes and I don’t know who’s listening so she hasn’t talked about what happened, it’s like, ‘I love you, talk to you soon’.
Young’s mother said her daughter, who was born in Berlin, told her she had traveled in Mexico and that she only found out the truth when she failed to call her mother on her birthday.
“I’m still processing what happened. I find sleeping difficult, but it’s not about me.
“It’s about how Jenny is going to get through all of this,” she added.
Young faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of drug smuggling – one of Mexico’s most serious crimes.
A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed last night that the British consul in Mexico is providing assistance to a British national in Cancun and her family in the UK.