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Colombian authorities continue to neither identify nor locate a Cuban known only as “Leo”, who is on the run and is considered one of the main suspects after acting as a anesthesiologist in the aesthetic procedure that caused the death of Yulixa Consuelo Toloza at an illegal medical center in Bogotá in mid-May, an event that has shocked Colombia due to the chilling details of the case.
Yulixa, a 52-year-old stylist, entered on the morning of May 13th to Beauty Láser M.L., an underground aesthetic center located in the Venecia neighborhood in the south of the Colombian capital, to undergo a laser lipolysis.
The clinic operated without the necessary licenses and medical protocols required for invasive and high-risk procedures, such as the one performed on Yulixa, who developed complications after the operation that ultimately led to her death. Her body was removed from the center—likely still alive—on the night of May 13, abandoned in a wooded area in a municipality of the Cundinamarca department, and found six days later.
The investigation into the case began in the early hours of May 14. After the operation, Yulixa's family and friends lost contact with her, and after several hours without any sign of her whereabouts, they alerted the authorities. When police officers arrived at Beauty Láser, they had to forcibly enter because there was no responsible personnel on the premises, nor did they find Yulixa.
The Colombian police launched an operation to find the woman and those responsible for her disappearance. Witnesses and evidence, such as surveillance camera footage, provided the necessary leads to advance the investigation. Interpol issued an international arrest warrant, which resulted in the detention of three suspects in Venezuela, from where they originate: the owner of the aesthetic center, the administrator, and the alleged surgeon who performed the procedures.
According to the investigation, the anesthesiologist "Leo" has a network of support and protection from other Cuban citizens in Bogotá, as well as connections within the Beauty Láser environment, and possible contacts in the Corabastos area, the main wholesale market in the Colombian capital, which could be complicating his location.
Local media reported, on the other hand, that the fear of retaliation has created reservations among witnesses and employees of the aesthetic center, which has posed an obstacle to the identification and capture of the involved party.
"Without a body, there is no crime."
On the night of May 13, security cameras in the area captured two men carrying an unconscious Yulixa, in critical condition, and dragging her to get her into a gray Chevrolet Sonic parked in front of the aesthetic center.
"We observed that indeed on Wednesday at 7:23 PM, two individuals were carrying Mrs. Yulixa. She appeared to be in very poor condition, as she was not walking (...) she was practically dragging her feet," reported Colonel Fabio Mauricio Gallego, head of the Criminal Investigation Section (Sijín) of the Bogotá Metropolitan Police.
The vehicle left the city through the Andes toll at 1:50 a.m. on May 14 and was found abandoned in Cúcuta, near the border with Venezuela, according to the investigation. Two suspects —Jesús Hernández Morales and Kelvis Sequera Delgado— were arrested in that city while trying to claim the car.
On May 18, in an operation in the municipality of Guanare, in the state of Portuguesa, Venezuelan authorities captured the couple who owned the beauty salon: María Fernanda Delgado Hernández, 30 years old, and Edinson José Torres Sarmiento, 40, who had fled along with their two minor children and the mother of the detained.
The other suspect, Eduardo David Ramos, who worked as a surgeon at the aesthetic center, was arrested in an operation carried out in the state of Aragua.
The three are accused of the crimes of forced disappearance of persons, simple kidnapping, failure to assist, concealment by favoring, and destruction of evidence.
During a video call with Colombian officials, the owner of Beauty Láser stated that it was the Cuban who suggested abandoning the victim's body in a wooded area of the municipality of Apulo, in Cundinamarca.
Ramos, the involved doctor, also told the authorities that initially they considered transferring Yulixa to a hospital to attempt to save her life, but they abandoned the idea after the anesthesiologist insisted against it and uttered the phrase that would seal the decisions ultimately made: “Without a corpse, there is no crime.”
The Attorney General of the Nation announced that it would make a formal request for extradition from Venezuela to Colombia for the three suspects detained in the neighboring country. The Venezuelan Constitution does not allow the extradition of its nationals; however, the fact that Interpol issued a blue notice in these three cases could facilitate the process.
Links with Cubans and aesthetic clinics
The newspaper El Tiempo mentioned other individuals of Cuban nationality, such as Danubia Blanco Azahares, who participated as partners of Beauty Láser or owners of similar establishments. It was reported that Blanco managed, alongside Delgado, the Estética BL Dr. Danubia Blanco SAS in the Los Héroes area, although she claimed that the company was dissolved in 2024.
Viviana Díaz, an employee of Beauty Láser, informed the authorities that she began working in January 2025 after being recommended by Nardi Bernal Rubio, another Cuban.
Díaz revealed to the newspaper that "Leo" had arrived in Colombia along with his wife and daughter, although he claimed to be unaware of their names and current whereabouts.
Authorities are tracking other Cuban nationals linked to these businesses in search of information about "Leo" and are reviewing footage from security cameras, which recorded how the Cuban was seen taking Yulixa Toloza out of the establishment.
While the legal situation of the three detainees in Venezuela is being determined, the search for the Cuban anesthesiologist remains the crucial piece that Colombian authorities need to accurately clarify everything that happened that night at the clandestine aesthetic center in southern Bogotá.
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