Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Monday, 3 Feb 2025 at 15:50
The Guardia Civil UCO Serious Crimes squad has, over the past few days, dismantled Spain’s largest illegal botulinum import network. Botox is more commonly known by this name. The substance was imported via a fraudulent network from South Korea and was intended for clandestine clinics and legal ones in different parts of Spain. It was not guaranteed to be safe. Sources close to the investigation claim that the toxin caused “serious consequences” for several patients.
In collaboration with AEAT, the national tax agency of Spain, UCO officers have arrested 4 people and filed charges against 41 more following an investigation that began in 2023. The allegations range from crimes against the public health, fraud, professional intrusion, and membership in a criminal organization.
On Monday 3 February, the Guardia Civil said that the investigation had targeted 24 clinics in the provinces of Cadiz, Madrid, Malaga, Córdoba, Seville and Alicante.
The organization, which brought the illegal products to Spain via the airport and port of Seville, built its business by offering services from its “associated” clinics at low prices. The promotion was done mainly on social media where it is more difficult to track such services.
During the operation the Guardia Civil confiscated 700 vials botox, which is used to reduce wrinkles on the skin. They also seized 275 vials hyaluronidase, a substance that counteracts the adverse effects of certain treatments, more than 200 containers lidocaine, (a local anaesthetic), and more than 1,000 pre-filled vials filled with hyaluronic (also used to remove wrinkles), along with tensors
Seizures on the rise
The UCO began the operation two years ago when it received information about clinics advertising beauty treatments in social media without the appropriate licences or staff. Investigators noticed a marked increase in seizures of medicine and treatments in Seville. The investigators discovered that these products are all being sold on South Korean pharmacy websites.
In addition to the arrests, the UCO carried out searches in properties in San Pedro de Alcántara (Malaga), Torrevieja (Alicante) and Cartagena (Murcia), as well as 24 inspections in clinics in six provinces, where 40 seizures of illegal medicines and products were registered.
