A clandestine operating room that performed operations in Madrid is closed

The National Police have closed down a clandestine operating theatre in Carabanchel (Madrid) where breast enlargement surgeries, liposuction and even tubal ligations were carried out in unsanitary conditions , described by police officials as "deplorable and gruesome" as they put the lives of the patients, women from Latin American countries, at risk.

The entrance was through the back room of a clinic run by a Colombian woman, arrested for running the clandestine operating room - in addition to the adjacent clinic - where dog and cat feces, expired medicines and a freezer where they kept vials and medical supplies along with food were found.

"I've been here for over fifteen years and I've never seen anything like this before, they could kill a person," said Juan José Castro García, chief inspector of the UDEV Central Consumption and Doping Section, giving an account of the operation with four women arrested and two others under investigation.

The head of the Central UDEV of the National Police , José Ángel González Morán, and operational managers have explained in a press conference at the Canillas Police Complex that medical interventions are carried out without the required qualifications and with expired medications.

Between 1,200 and 4,000 euros per operation

The clandestine operating room, which was advertised on social media , was accessed through the back room of a clinic that connected to the home of one of the four women arrested, a Colombian woman - the others are Bolivian and Peruvian nationals. None of them were sent to pretrial detention. After the police operation, the clandestine operating room was closed, although the adjoining aesthetic medicine clinic continues to provide services.

"The conditions were truly deplorable, terrifying, there was everything from feces to loose animals," said the police, assuring that the victims, women from Latin American countries, had to undergo medical interventions paying between 1,200 and 4,000 euros per operation.

The investigation found that when there were problems during operations, the clandestine operating room offered two alternatives: "either they had to undergo another operation or their money would be returned."

"They had been carrying out operations for quite some time," said the chief inspector of UDEV Central, although he could not specify an exact date because they are still analyzing the documentation.

Two victims of liposuction

The agents confirmed that around 20 people went to the establishment every day , but they still do not know if they all went to the clandestine operating room or if they went to the neighboring clinic.

For this reason, the police have not yet been able to give the number of victims, although they are aware that two women had to go to emergency medical centres for liposuction , one of whom remained in hospital for several days. The investigation is still open to locate new victims, through the 24-hour telephone number 628 711 298 .

The officers carried out an initial inspection on 6 February and then, after being prevented from entering all the rooms, a week later they gained access to the establishment with a court-authorised entry and search.

The agents found expired medicines , as well as invoices and records of the interventions, preoperative reports and even a freezer where they kept vials and medical supplies along with food. They also used a machine to sterilize the material and gauze that, according to the evidence, were reused .

During the exploitation and closure phase of the clandestine operating room - with the collaboration of the General Directorate of Inspection and Health Regulation of the Community of Madrid - notebooks and photographs of the treatments carried out were also found, diaries with the schedules of the supposed nurses and appointments, as well as 3,350 euros in cash.