Screen grab from the CCTV footage by Breaking News Commune Screen grab from the CCTV footage by Breaking News Commune

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- On Monday January 8, six members of the criminal gang that tried to extort money from a health spa in Hengchun Township in Pingtung County were arrested by a local police task force in plain clothes.

On Friday January 5, a group of men armed with assault rifles stormed into a health spa located in Hengchun and demanded to settle a 'dispute' for NT$500,000.

The armed men pointed the rifles on staff members and customers and ordered everyone not to move around before telling them they had come to help the owner settle a dispute and demanded that huge amount for their service.

The spa owner surnamed Lin was reportedly scared out of his wits but still refused to pay any money and claimed he had no idea about what dispute the gang members were talking about.

CCTV footage released to the media yesterday revealed the gang fired shots aimed at the ceiling and walls of the health spa in an attempt to scare the staff, customers and the owner.

The police formed a special ad-hoc task force to investigate this incident and on Monday evening around 7 pm cornered the gang leader, a 25-year-old man surnamed Chang, when he drove into the drive way of his rented apartment with his 22-year-old girlfriend seated on the passenger side.

Officers dressed in casual attire pulled up behind him in an unmarked vehicle to block his exit while other officers on foot rushed in with guns in hand. The encounter was intense as Chang stepped out of the car with a handgun he aimed at the officers. But one of the officers took his gun while another grabbed the 100-kg suspect in a headlock and subdued him.

Upon checking his vehicle, officers found 53 rounds of ammunition hidden along with two steel pipe shotguns.

It is reported that Chang's accomplices have also been arrested but the assault rifles shown on the CCTV footage were yet to be found.

The video below is the CCTV footage captured at the health spa at the time of the incident, as shown at the website Breaking News Commune.