A woman has been charged with manslaughter for performing a deadly “butt lift” procedure in her New York home. Police arrested Whalesca Castillo, 44, over the death of Philadelphia woman Lesbia Ayala, 48, on 17 June.

Ms Ayala died of embolism after Ms Castillo pumped silicone into her buttocks and thighs. Ms Castillo had been arrested twice before. She was charged with providing illegal silicone injections in the Bronx to women who wished to enhance their figures.

Ms Castillo pleaded guilty in September 2011 to charges related to operating a fly-by-night plastic surgery clinic without a medical license. She served a year in federal prison. Buttock enhancement surgery, is also known as a “Brazilian butt lift”. It has become extremely popular in recent years. People are allured by the famously curvy pop-culture figures like Beyoncé, Kim Kardashian and Nicki Minaj, plastic surgeons say.

In New York city, there has been a surge of illegal clinics catering to women who want to change their shapes but, might not be able to afford a licensed plastic surgeon. The procedures can be fatal because, when silicone is injected directly into tissues in the legs, it can be carried by veins to the heart and lungs.