AS demand for surgically-enhanced butts and hips skyrockets, a shocking underground economy has continued to grow nationwide.

Illegal fillers and butt lifts are on the rise, with some unqualified practitioners administering the procedure in hotel rooms, basements, and even in clients' homes.

On February 15, 53-year-old Maxine Messam's body was dumped in front of Jacobi Medical Center in New York City.

Messam was left at the hospital, naked from the waist down, by two unidentified women. Reports allege she died around 1.51am.

Doctors found needle marks on her body and said she had a foreign substance injected into her buttocks.

It's unclear where the woman may have undergone the procedure, but as the black market for illegal surgery grows, so do the chances for things to go horribly wrong.

BOTCHED SURGERIES

A study out of Johns Hopkins University concluded that over 4,000 surgical errors occur in the US each year, and that research was conducted between 1990 and 2021–years before the Brazilian Butt Lift exploded in popularity.

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And that paper focuses only on legitimate medical institutions, not back-alley operations that have popped up in all corners of the country due to overwhelming demand and inflating costs.

Even some licensed surgeons won't perform the procedure, citing the risk.

Dr Jerry Chidester, known as "The Dancing Surgeon" on TikTok, doesn't do butt implants.

“I don’t think they’re safe, they can cause a lot of issues," the doctor has said.

Discount alternatives to legitimate procedures only increase the risk.

"People inject all sorts of silicone variants and so women are finding bargain ways to get a procedure that can be dangerous to their health.

"When I was training in California, I once removed cement from someone’s butt. It was so hard to get it out," Dr Chidester explained.

Dr Scot Glasberg, a certified plastic surgeon, told News 12 that he believes Messam received illegal injections. 

“Often it’s not even a physician, it’s people who are not medically trained," Dr Glasberg said.

Dr Tansar Mir, a New York plastic surgeon, estimates around 100,000 Americans have dangerous injections that should be removed.

Loreen Williams told the New York Post about an at-home butt lift she received in 2012, from a woman who claimed to be a doctor but wasn't actually trained or certified.

'IT FELT LIKE FIRE'

When the woman arrived at Williams' home with bags of supplies, including needles and silicone, she produced no medical credentials or intake forms.

“She told me that she was a doctor, and that the silicone was from some hospital where she works,” Williams told the Post.

The injections "looked amazing," Williams said, but over time, she began to experience pain in her knees and buttocks.

"If I sat too long, it felt like fire," she said.

In 2018, Williams went to Dr Mir to have the silicone removed.

If she hadn't, the muscle and skin in the affected area could continue to harden, and even get infected.

"Patients can get sepsis and die if they don't seek proper medical care," Dr Mir said.

Multiple people have been charged with manslaughter or homicide and sentenced to prison for leading illegal injection operations.

One woman died at the home of Whalesca Castillo, who was administering the procedure; the victim's fatal heart attack was attributed to "systemic silicone embolism syndrome."

WOMAN ARE TARGETED THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS

During an investigation into the dangerous procedure, Inside Edition learned that online ads led many buyers down the rabbit hole to dangerous, black-market procedures.

On Instagram, one woman advertised "advance glute enhancement needle therapy" for only $950.

Producers met with the woman, and hidden cameras captured her relaying the supposed ingredients in the filler: "mainly collagen," seaweed, aloe vera, vitamin E, fucus, and coffee, along with an ingredient she couldn't pronounce.

"We can Google it if you want," the woman said.

Along with online social networks, women can also find illegal BBL providers through word-of-mouth.

In a new episode of Trafficked with Mariana van Zeller, the National Geographic documentary host speaks to a woman who performs dozens of injections per day.

Miss T is a transgender woman in Atlanta, Georgia, who turned to the illegal surgery trade after licensed doctors in established clinics refused to help her with aspects of her own surgical transition.

Now, she has a wide network of satisfied customers, who sell her phone number to potential new clients for $250.

That "referral fee," plus the cost of the injections themselves, may seem like a small price to pay in lieu of a procedure with a board-certified surgeon, but those consumers are risking lifelong complications and even death.

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