14-year-old girl dies after unauthorised breast enlargement in Mexico, father says

A 14-year-old girl died in the Mexican city of Durango on Saturday, about a week after undergoing an allegedly unauthorised breast enlargement operation. Paloma Nicole Arellano Escobedo died in hospital, according to local authorities. Her death certificate reportedly lists the cause as complications related to a respiratory illness, but her father, Carlos Arellano, says the surgery was to blame and has called for a formal investigation.

The girl's father says the operation was performed without his knowledge and that he only learned of it at her funeral after discovering she had breast implants. He has claimed that the procedure led to complications, resulting in cardiac arrest. He told news outlets that he was told Paloma had contracted a respiratory illness, a line that has since become a point of contention as the family pursues answers.

Authorities said they are investigating Paloma's death. The girl's mother is understood to have consented to the operation, according to Antena3, which cited the family's account.

The case comes amid other international tragedies linked to cosmetic procedures abroad, underscoring safety concerns around elective surgeries performed outside standard medical oversight. In Brazil, Natália Cavanellas, a 40-year-old businesswoman, died after liposuction at San Gennaro Hospital in Mooca, São Paulo, two months earlier. Reports said the operation involved an advanced liposuction technique and that Cavanellas went into cardiac arrest shortly after the procedure. In a separate incident last year, a 26-year-old mother from Salford, Greater Manchester, died after a Brazilian butt lift at a clinic in Istanbul, a case that prompted renewed scrutiny of overseas cosmetic surgery. Authorities have not released further details about Paloma’s case, and officials say the investigation is ongoing.