A beauty worker died while allegedly undergoing ‘illegal’ liposuction surgery at the clinic she worked at while its owners were away.

Cosmetologist Carolina Marenco, 28, reportedly planned the procedure with her coworker, Johana Acosta, during their lunch break last Thursday while their bosses were away from the clinic located in the Colombian city of Barranquilla.

The operation started that day around 12:30pm when Acosta, who works as a surgical instrument technician, gave lidocaine to Marenco.

Marenco fell ill after after experiencing complications from the anesthetic, which ’causes numbness or loss of feeling,’ according to the Mayo Clinic.

She is said to have died around 4:50pm before the clinic alerted the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police.

Marenco’s body was transferred to the medical examiner’s office for a pending autopsy.

Acosta was not placed under arrest but is being investigated by the Barranquilla Metropolitan Police and the Attorney General’s Office.

Marenco’s death stunned her family and friends.

Carolina Marenco, 28, died while allegedly undergoing ‘illegal’ liposuction surgery at the clinic she worked at in Colombia while its owners were away

Carolina Marenco reportedly planned the procedure with her coworker during their lunch break while their bosses were away from the clinic. The 28-year-old fell ill after her colleague applied lidocaine, an anesthetic which ’causes numbness or loss of feeling,’ according to the Mayo Clinic

‘You lacked nothing my love, you were beautiful. I will love you all my life,’ her brother, Jorge Marenco, wrote in a social media post. 

Marenco’s childhood friend, Marlon Herrera, recalled seeing her in good spirits at her brother’s birthday party just days before the surgery.

‘I still don’t believe it,’ Herrera said. 

‘You were a good friend, a good daughter, a good mother, and a good sister.’

María Escorcia, an attorney representing the clinic’s owners – Dr. Carlos Cala, a plastic surgeon, and his wife, Dr. Lili Balmonte, who specializes in clinical dermatology, aesthetics and cosmetology – told El Tiempo newspaper that they were unaware of the surgery. 

‘At the time of the surgery, Dr. Balmonte was at a dermatology conference, and Dr. Cala was attending a procedure elsewhere before attending a presentation by a close associate,’ Escorcia said.

‘It was a clandestine operation.’ 

The clinic is not licensed to perform surgeries, a lawyer for the owners said 

Dr. Carlos Cala (left), a plastic surgeon, and his wife Dr. Lili Balmonte (right), who specializes in clinical dermatology, aesthetics and cosmetology, were unaware of the planned surgery, their attorney said

Carolina Marenco died while having a liposuction at the clinic where she worked as a cosmetologist

The office, which is located in the northern Barranquilla neighborhood of El Poblado, is not licensed to perform surgeries, the lawyer said.

‘The facilities are not a clinic, no surgeries are performed, only outpatient consultations and some non-invasive aesthetic procedures,’ Escorcia said.

However, Acosta had access to the anesthetic, which is kept at the clinic and transported to other sites prior to surgeries, according to the attorney.

‘Plastic surgeons store their equipment there to take to the clinic where they will actually operate,’ Escorcia said.