A local man was arrested on Thursday for running a tuina massage and acupuncture salon without a licence in São Lourenço district for over seven years, Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai said at a press conference yesterday.
“Tuina” (推拿) is a traditional Chinese hands-on body treatment. “Tui” means “to push” and “na” means “to lift and squeeze.”
The 58-year-old suspect surnamed Lei told the police that he works as a senior masseur.
According to Lou, a resident reported to the Health Bureau (SSM) by email on June 15 this year that a man was operating a business in São Lourenço district providing services such as acupuncture, cupping and tuina massage without a licence. The email claimed that the man did not have a professional qualification for the services. The bureau referred the case to the Judiciary Police on July 26 for follow up investigation.
Lou said PJ officers went to the salon with SSM officials on Thursday to investigate. When they arrived there, Lei was performing acupuncture on a client. A total of 2,520 acupuncture needles, 58 cups and a quantity of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) powder for bone-setting therapy were seized. Under questioning, Lei admitted that he had been operating the salon since June 2014. He also said that he had had 1,000 clients and earnt about 150,000 patacas.
According to Lou, SSM officials have confirmed that Lei had never registered the business.
Lei was transferred to the Public Prosecutions Office (MP) on October 18, facing a charge of unauthorised practice of a profession (Article 322 of the Macau Penal Code), according to Lou.
Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Lou Chan Fai looks on during a press conference yesterday in the Public Security Police (PSP) press room. Photo: Camy Tam
