A routine acupuncture treatment priced at just 60 yuan became the bait for a meticulously planned extortion trap, ultimately forcing a small business to shut its doors. The victim, a woman surnamed Guo who runs an acupuncture clinic in Shahekou District, Dalian, Liaoning Province, expressed deep frustration over the ordeal, noting that her elderly mother was so distressed by the incident that she required hospitalization.
The ordeal began in late September 2025 when Guo received a phone call from a woman inquiring about acupuncture treatment for tinnitus. The caller visited the clinic the next day with a companion, insisting on receiving the procedure despite Guo's professional advice that rest and lifestyle changes might suffice. After the treatment, the two women left, only to return about an hour later with the "tinnitus" patient now wearing a mask, claiming she had been "injured" by the procedure. Removing the mask revealed a supposedly crooked mouth, a symptom the women attributed to Guo's treatment.
When Guo challenged the claim and suggested a hospital evaluation or judicial appraisal, the women refused. Instead, they created a scene, shouting alarming statements that drove away five or six customers, forcing Guo to issue refunds. The pair then escalated their tactics by mentioning a formidable older brother, described as a powerful figure connected to both legal and illegal circles, who soon arrived at the shop to intimidate the owner. The group initially demanded 20,000 yuan in compensation, threatening to file complaints with authorities if not paid. After hours of relentless pressure that lasted until 5 PM, Guo and her mother reluctantly agreed to pay 12,000 yuan to end the ordeal.
The emotional and financial toll proved devastating. Guo's nearly 70-year-old mother required hospitalization and has not fully recovered. The clinic's reputation suffered irreparable damage due to word-of-mouth from the incident, forcing the two-woman operation to close permanently. Just when Guo believed justice would never be served, she received an unexpected call from detectives with the Development Zone Public Security Bureau, informing her that the suspects had been arrested. When she identified the three individuals in a police lineup, she felt a profound sense of relief, expressing gratitude that the authorities had finally brought the criminals to justice.
The case came to light during routine police intelligence review, when officers noticed a suspicious pattern: one woman was repeatedly involved in disputes claiming acupuncture-related injuries. Recognizing the signs of an organized criminal enterprise targeting traditional medicine practitioners, the bureau's criminal investigation unit launched a comprehensive operation. Investigators analyzed complaint records, interviewed affected merchants, and mapped out the gang's methods before executing coordinated arrests of suspects surnamed Liu, Zhang, and Song.
The investigation revealed that the ringleader, Liu, leveraged his extensive background in traditional Chinese medicine to craft a predatory scheme. The gang exploited practitioners' fears of complaints and reputational damage, developing a systematic process of feigning illness, undergoing acupuncture, then fabricating complications to demand compensation. Zhang and Song would scout acupuncture clinics via online platforms, with Song posing as a tinnitus patient. After treatment, they would fake facial paralysis symptoms, and if the merchant refused to pay, the group deployed coercive tactics including disruptive behavior, threats to file complaints via hotlines like 12315, and even simulated self-harm to intimidate their targets. The women maintained constant communication with Liu, who would either appear in person to play the menacing role or deliver verbal threats over the phone to pressure business owners into paying hush money.
Police confirmed that from June 2025 onwards, the gang had traveled across Heilongjiang, Jilin, Hebei, and Liaoning provinces, committing over 50 offenses with total illicit gains exceeding 200,000 yuan. The successful dismantling of this criminal network has significantly protected the rights and financial security of acupuncture and massage business owners, while serving as a strong deterrent against such predatory behavior. The crew had also been planning to extend their criminal activities to Shandong and Hebei before their capture.