São Paulo Raids Expose Illicit Weight-Loss Injection Market as Salon Seller Put on House Arrest

Overview

• A judge ordered Laís Samara Alonso to house arrest after her detention in Jaboticabal, allowing her to leave only to take her children to school or for documented medical needs.
• Police seized 14 injectable weight-loss pens prepared for sale at her property, which promoted the products on social media and stored them in a household refrigerator, and the salon lacked required health licensing.
• Civil and Military Police operations in São Vicente and the capital’s Vila Moraes uncovered a storefront scheme using a cosmetics shop, arrested three suspects, and confiscated about 60 pens and ampoules plus more than 100 syringes.
• In separate theft cases, officers in Vila Moraes detained two men and recovered 24 pens and cash from a pharmacy robbery, and in Piracicaba a 21-year-old confessed to stealing dozens of pens and had narcotics found at his residence.
• Investigators say the supply involves clandestine routes, citing an alleged Goiás-based contact and products imported from Paraguay, with cases advancing under public health, smuggling (descaminho), falsification, and organized crime statutes.