A South Florida man accused of running a clandestine spa in his own home and giving a bad butt injection that left a woman with a serious infection was released from jail Wednesday.
Carlos Gilberto Mendoza, 49, was arrested on charges including providing unlicensed health care causing serious injury and possession of prescription drugs without a prescription.
He was released Wednesday after posting bond, and didn't want to speak with reporters as he left jail.
According to police, Mendoza used his home at Northwest 10th Terrace and 136th Street in northwest Miami-Dade to set up a surgical suite for injections.
"We found a clandestine lab," an undercover Miami-Dade Police detective said. "We found numerous machines that are used in the cosmetic world. We found some syringes, prescription drugs. We found some foreign unapproved drugs."
One of the alleged patients of Mendoza, Ileana Duarte, called police to the home about a botched butt injection. She claims she visited his house at least three times since last May, paying about $4,300 for procedures.
Duarte says Mendoza told her he was injecting vitamins to giver her granite-hard glutes and a substance to make it larger.
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Detectives are investigating what the substances may be but said they have an idea.
"We found some other items that we're gonna have tested, we believe that might be silicon or biopolymer-based," the detective said.
Whatever it was, Duarte was taken away in an ambulance after she says she began to experience a sharp, burning pain. She went to a doctor who told her she was injected with a biopolymer.
The fact that the procedure was done at someone's home should have tipped off Duarte that Mendoza may not have been legitimate, authorities said.
"Any type of spa or medical treatment should be done at a certified plastic surgeon or a spa where they can do checks on the doctors on the department of health website," the detective said.
Mendoza's next court appearance is set for April 13.
