When people research body contouring abroad, the conversation usually centres on surgery: liposuction, fat transfer, implants. A separate, quieter market exists alongside it. It offers to reshape the buttocks, hips, calves or other areas with injections, often at a fraction of a surgical price, sometimes in a spa, a home or a hotel room, and sometimes with no doctor involved at all.
Some of what gets injected in these settings is not an approved filler. Colombia calls these products biopolymers or "sustancias modelantes no permitidas," non-permitted modelling substances, and treats their injection as a crime. This article explains what the law says, why these offers appeal to travellers, and how to protect yourself, whatever country you are considering.
What "Biopolymers" Means in This Context
In everyday Colombian usage, "biopolímeros" has become shorthand for unapproved substances injected into the body for cosmetic volume. The term covers a range of materials, and patients who received them are often not told what was used. That uncertainty is part of the problem: a doctor treating complications years later may not know what they are dealing with.
Colombia's legislature addressed this directly in Ley 2316 de 2023. Its title describes the creation of a criminal offence of personal injury caused by invasive modelling substances and non-permitted injectables, biopolymers. The law exists because these injections caused enough harm to warrant a dedicated response.
What Ley 2316 de 2023 Does
The law is mainly a criminal and public-health measure. Its main provisions, as published on the INVIMA normograma, include:
| Area | What the law provides |
|---|---|
| Criminal offence (Art. 3) | Injecting or infiltrating non-permitted substances carries a prison term of 32 to 120 months and a fine; penalties are higher when a health professional commits the offence, including a period of disqualification from practice |
| Aggravating factors (Art. 3) | Penalties increase if the victim is a minor, was deceived about the substance, or the face is affected |
| List of permitted fillers (Art. 4) | The Ministry of Health, through INVIMA, must issue a list of permitted products |
| Traceability (Art. 6) | Those selling fillers must report information that allows the product's origin and sales chain to be traced |
| Public list of authorized providers (Art. 7) | The ministry must publish a free online list of institutions and professionals authorized for aesthetic procedures |
| Informed consent (Art. 8) | Consent for filler injection must state the product's components, aftercare, possible complications, adverse effects and risks |
| Care for those harmed (Arts. 5, 9) | Diagnosis, treatment and removal for people affected, plus mental health support, are to be included in the public benefits plan, and a clinical protocol developed |
For a traveller, three of these provisions are immediately practical. There is meant to be a list of permitted products, so you can ask which one you are being offered. There is meant to be a public list of authorized providers, so you can ask whether the person injecting you is on it. And consent must name the product's components and risks, so a consent form that does not identify the product is a warning sign in itself.
If the price seems impossible, ask why
Large-volume body enhancement at a tiny fraction of the cost of surgery, delivered in a non-medical setting, by someone who will not name the product, is the pattern Colombia's law was written to stop. Walk away.
Why These Offers Reach Travellers
Several features of cosmetic tourism make travellers especially exposed to this market:
- Price anchoring. Someone who came abroad to save money may find an injection that costs far less than surgery very tempting.
- Short timelines. Injections promise results with little downtime, which suits a short trip.
- Language gaps. A visitor may not understand what product is being described, or may not be told.
- Social media referral. Offers often travel through private messages and influencer accounts rather than clinic websites, making them harder to check.
- Distance from consequences. Problems may surface after the traveller has gone home, where local doctors may not know what was used.
Regulated Products Still Need Regulated Settings
The problem is not only illegal substances. The CDC Yellow Book (2026) warns that pharmaceuticals and devices in some destinations may not face the same regulatory oversight as in the United States, and that some drugs may be counterfeit, expired, contaminated or improperly stored. The CDC also lists infection as the most common complication among medical tourists, and describes an outbreak of surgical site infections caused by nontuberculous mycobacteria linked to cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic.
So even when the product named is legitimate, ask where it came from, check that the packaging is sealed and labelled, and make sure the injection takes place in a clinical setting with proper hygiene, by a licensed professional.
Questions to Ask Before Any Injection Abroad
- What exactly is the product? Ask for the brand, the generic name and the manufacturer, in writing.
- Is it on the destination's list of permitted products? In Colombia, ask how it relates to the INVIMA list referred to in Ley 2316.
- Can I see the sealed packaging and lot number? Photograph them. You will want this information later.
- Who is injecting, and what is their profession? Check them on the national register. In Colombia that is ReTHUS, run by the Ministry of Health.
- Where will it happen? A licensed clinical setting, not a hotel room, a home or a salon back room.
- What volume is planned, and for what area? Large-volume body enhancement by injection deserves particular scepticism.
- What does the consent form say? Under Colombian law it should name the product's components, aftercare, complications and risks.
- What happens if something goes wrong? Who do you contact, and who treats you?
If any of these questions is met with vagueness, irritation or a lower price, you have your answer.
If You Have Already Had Injections
Some readers will be researching this because they had injections in the past and are not sure what was used. That is a common situation, and it is nothing to be embarrassed about. A few practical steps help:
- Write down everything you remember: where, when, who, how much, what you were told, and what you paid.
- Find any messages, receipts or photographs from the time.
- If you have symptoms such as pain, hardness, lumps, redness, swelling, skin changes or fever in the treated area, see a doctor and tell them about the injection, even if it was years ago.
- Before any new cosmetic procedure in the same area, tell the surgeon about the previous injections. It can change what is safe to do.
Colombia's law recognizes that people harmed by these substances need care, and directs the ministry to develop a clinical protocol for related conditions. Wherever you live, the key is to be candid with your doctor so they can decide what assessment you need.
How the Offer Usually Arrives
These offers rarely look like a medical service. More often they arrive as a direct message after you comment on a before-and-after post, a recommendation passed along by someone you met in a recovery house, or a "special price" mentioned casually by a driver or a spa. Typical features include a price that is quoted per syringe or per session rather than as a procedure, a promise of instant results with no downtime, an appointment at a private address, and reluctance to put anything in writing.
None of those features alone proves that a banned substance is involved. Together, they describe a setting where nobody will be accountable if something goes wrong. If you are recovering from surgery in a recovery house or hotel, be especially wary: you are already a captive audience, and you may be tired, medicated and keen to "finish" your result.
Safer Alternatives Start With an Honest Consultation
If your goal is more volume or a different body shape, a consultation with a qualified plastic surgeon is the right starting point. They can explain which surgical and non-surgical options are appropriate for your anatomy, what each involves, and what the realistic results and risks are. Those options cost more, and they come with risks of their own, but they are regulated, documented and accountable in a way that an unnamed injection in a rented room is not.
A legitimate provider will also be the first to tell you when they think a procedure is not right for you. Someone who agrees to anything you ask, for whatever you can pay, is not acting as a medical professional.
Age Restrictions Are Part of the Same Picture
Colombia also prohibits cosmetic procedures for minors under Ley 1799 de 2016, with limited exemptions, and states that parental consent does not override the ban. Ley 2316 increases penalties when the person injected with banned substances is a minor. Any provider who offers injections to a teenager is breaking more than one rule.
The Bottom Line
An injection can look like the low-risk, low-cost alternative to surgery. When the product is unnamed, the setting is not clinical, or the injector is not a licensed professional, it can be the opposite. Colombia has made injecting non-permitted substances a crime and has required consent forms to name what is being used. Use those rules as your checklist anywhere in the world: know the product, know the person, know the place, and get it in writing.