Podgorica Arrests Two Over Fake Botox, Shuts Down Clinic

Police in Podgorica have arrested two people suspected of injecting patients with botulinum toxin of unknown origin outside the regular healthcare system, and Montenegro’s Health Ministry banned the facility where the treatments took place from operating any further, effective the same day. The case follows an earlier report about women hospitalized at the Clinical Center of Montenegro with complications after receiving a product marketed as “Dysport,” and it shows how widespread the market for unregulated aesthetic treatments has become in the region, a market that also draws clients from Serbia.

The Police Directorate said the two arrested were Y.K., 44, a Ukrainian citizen, and D.L., 41, a Montenegrin citizen. Y.K. is suspected of quackery in connection with a serious offense against public health, after allegedly injuring three women, according to police. D.L. is charged with illegal trade and a serious offense against public health, tied to the production and distribution of harmful products. Both were taken into custody on orders from the state prosecutor at the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica.

The investigation began after an employee of the Clinical Center of Montenegro alerted the on duty service of the Podgorica Security Department that two patients had come to the hospital following treatment with an alleged botulinum toxin. The patients were admitted with symptoms consistent with botulism and, according to the latest information, are now stable and out of danger. After the report, police identified Y.K. and D.L., brought them in for questioning, and searched the apartment and other premises used by Y.K. Items found during the search were sent for forensic examination, police said. Both suspects, along with a criminal complaint, are being referred to the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office in Podgorica for further proceedings.

Alongside the arrests, sanitary and health inspectors, coordinating with police and acting on orders from the Basic State Prosecutor’s Office, inspected the premises where the treatments were carried out and found that the business had no sanitary approval permit. Montenegro’s Health Ministry said in a statement:

“It has been established that the inspected party does not possess a sanitary approval permit proving that it meets the prescribed sanitary technical and sanitary hygiene conditions for carrying out this activity,” the ministry said.

The sanitary inspection therefore issued an order banning the facility from operating any further. No misdemeanor proceedings have been opened for now, since inspectors concluded that the circumstances point to elements of a criminal offense, meaning the next steps depend on the prosecution’s findings.

The ministry noted that a regulation in force since December 2025 requires that minimally invasive aesthetic procedures, including botulinum toxin injections, be performed exclusively by registered healthcare institutions with licensed specialists. Before that, the field was not systematically regulated in Montenegro, which explains how an informal salon of this kind could operate without oversight in the first place. In a region where the borders between aesthetic services markets barely exist, the Podgorica case is a reminder that a license on paper, not a social media ad, remains the only guarantee that what is in the syringe is actually what the label says.