Two days have passed since Yulitza Consuelo Tolosa, a 52-year-old Venezuelan woman, disappeared. She was last seen leaving a laser liposuction procedure at an unlicensed clinic in southern Bogotá. She was reported missing this Wednesday, hours after the procedure and after her friends returned to the clinic to be with her during her recovery and couldn’t find her.
Employees of the Beauty Láser M.L. establishment have stated that she asked to go home on her own. The case once again highlights a persistent problem in Colombia: the proliferation of unlicensed cosmetic clinics offering invasive procedures without any legal or health oversight.
Tolosa entered the establishment on the morning of May 13 for a procedure that was supposed to last two hours, but which extended for much of the day. Her friends were able to see her after the surgery and found her struggling to breathe, pale, and disoriented. The beauty center suggested she spend the night there for observation. Noticias Caracol spoke with Yuri Paola Mora, one of her companions, who claims the victim’s cell phone has been tampered with.
“They kept telling us she was supposedly going to Meissen Hospital. They sent us messages as if it were her… Then they stopped answering and turned off her phone,” she recounted, pointing the finger at the beauty center.
The following day, following the complaints, authorities entered the premises and found the security camera system had been ripped out. The Bogotá Health Department, the Police, and the Prosecutor’s Office are searching for the woman and are conducting an investigation to reconstruct what happened to her based on witness testimonies. According to investigators from the Sijín (Criminal Investigation Division) of the National Police, who obtained access to street security camera footage, images show Tolosa leaving the establishment, being dragged by two men who forced her into a private vehicle.
Claudia Collante, the mayor of Tunjuelito, the district of approximately 200,000 inhabitants where the clinic is located, has confirmed that the beauty center did not have the necessary health permits to provide the surgical services it offered. She also stated that she has planned raids and inspections against clandestine cosmetic surgery establishments in various neighborhoods in that area of southern Bogotá. “We had planned to inspect these establishments in the second half of the year, but we are already taking action,” the mayor told the media.
These types of clandestine procedures have become a growing problem in a country with high rates of informal employment and where cosmetic surgeries have become increasingly common. In fact, a bill called “Safe Surgery Now” is currently before Congress, seeking to strengthen the requirements and controls for performing cosmetic procedures. The initiative has been introduced several times in the last 10 years, but has never become law. In its current version, it has already been approved by the House of Representatives, but must pass two debates in the Senate, where it has been stalled on more than one occasion due to a lack of quorum.
One of its main proponents is journalist Lorena Beltrán, a victim of botched cosmetic surgery. The activist also warns that in Colombia there are not even recent reports that allow for a proper understanding of the severity of the problem. The figures used date back to 2016, when the National Institute of Legal Medicine recorded 30 deaths from cosmetic procedures in the country. This lack of updated data is, in itself, part of the problem. “Today, this case puts the public spotlight on the clandestine clinics that have existed for decades, but ultimately, nothing changes. They’re shut down for a week, change their business name, and then continue operating as if nothing happened,” he warns.
Colombia is recognized worldwide as a destination for medical aesthetic tourism, with surgeons and centers of very high quality. According to the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS), 35.9% of patients who undergo surgery in the country are foreigners. In 2023, 447,268 aesthetic procedures were performed in Colombia, of which 270,870 were surgical, according to data from the same Society. During the first half of 2024, health tourism grew by 7% compared to the same period of the previous year, with visitors spending an average of $3,500 on health or aesthetic procedures. This same industry coexists with a parallel network of clandestine clinics that operate without any oversight.
