Federal prosecutors also allege that the doctor, who has offices in Beverly Hills and Brea, falsified patients' medical records so they could receive American silicone implants that doctors were testing. If found guilty, he could face as many as 10 years in prison.

The ban has spurred a black market for the implants, which are considered more natural in appearance and feel than saline-filled ones approved for use in the nearly 300,000 American women who have cosmetic breast surgery every year.

"Silicone gel is the preferred implant when you talk about the Coke-or-Pepsi test," said James Wells, a cosmetic surgeon and past president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. "If you give them the choice between a gel and a saline implant and cover it with a towel, just on texture and feel they will more often than not pick the gel implant."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration allows silicone implants to be used only in research studies or for reconstructive surgery for women who have had mastectomies. But silicone implants are widely available outside the U.S.

American women regularly travel to Mexico for breast augmentation at discount prices. At the Tijuana clinic Medica Norte, a receptionist said 80 percent of the women who come to have their breasts enlarged were American and almost always chose silicone.

Corbin's lawyer, Drew Allan Cicconi, said the indictment was the work of a disgruntled former employee and that his client did not create false records.

"They probably knew they were getting the preferred implants, but I don't know that they knew they were breaking the rules to get them," said Ken Julian, the assistant U.S. attorney who is prosecuting the case.

• 500 at once : One of the largest seizures took place in 1995 when an Oklahoma doctor was caught smuggling more than 500 Brazilian implants from the Bahamas.

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