The man police arrested on Wednesday in Miami Lakes for allegedly practicing medicine without a license in Florida was released on bond, officials said.
After receiving a tip from the Department of Health, the Miami-Dade Police Department's Medical Crimes Unit made the bust at My Face and Body Aesthetics medical spa just as the man was about to inject Botox into an undercover detective’s face.
Two undercover officers had gone in seeking Botox injections and agreed to pay the alleged so-called doctor in cash.
“They marked their face up as they normally do and they were ready to go for the procedure and they had set a price, everything was a go and that’s when the takedown code was given," said Miami-Dade Police Det. Alvaro Zabaleta. "The officers were able to come in and arrest this individual.”
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Damian Beltran-Garces, 52, of Hialeah, was charged with practicing health care without a license and selling drugs without a prescription, police said.
The office continued vials of product labeled Botox, but police believe there’s a high probability it’s not actually the real Botox cosmetic, which increases the danger to the public.
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Beltran-Garces claimed to police he was licensed to practice in Puerto Rico. To practice medicine in Florida, doctors must be licensed in Florida.
The fact that the department has a Medical Crimes Unit is an indication of how widespread the problem of medical fraud is in South Florida.
“There’s a lot of people that are doing not only Botox, they’re doing butt lifts, all types of plastic surgeries, and they’re doing them from different areas that are not supposed to be done outside a hospital setting, a surgical setting," Zabaleta said.
