Former beauty queen Landy Párraga Goyburo tragically gunned down in a restaurant, sparking speculation about motives and connections to a drug trafficking case.

A former beauty queen was gunned down in a restaurant after she was cryptically discussed by a drug trafficker before his murder in prison.

Horror CCTV footage shows how two gunmen burst into the eatery as Landy Párraga Goyburo and another man stood at a table.

As the first gunman runs towards them shooting, Párraga, 23, drops to the floor while the man next to her ducks for cover.

A bullet mark is visible on her right thigh.

The horror unfolded in Quevedo, Ecuador, on Sunday (28 Apr), as reported on Need to Know.

The police are working to discover the motive and identify those responsible.

Párraga was a former Miss Ecuador contestant, having represented Los Ríos Province in 2022.

She had more than a million followers across her social media accounts.

In December 2023, her name was mentioned in a chat made public by the Attorney General’s Office as part of a major organised crime case it is investigating.

One of the 52 people being prosecuted in the case is Helive Angulo.

In the chat, Angulo told the drug trafficker Leandro Norero, whose assets he managed, that the police had asked him about Párraga.

Norero cryptically wrote: “If my wife comes across anything about her, I’m screwed.

“My friend, her name cannot come out anywhere. Otherwise, my world will come crashing down.”

Norero was killed in prison in 2022, six months after his incarceration.

Money transfers made to Párraga’s bank account are under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office.

The office never prosecuted Párraga and she had never publicly commented on the case.