The police have arrested a gang of scalpers who made large profits by re-selling medical appointments to desperate patients for extortionate prices at the city's Peking Union Medical College Hospital, one of the best in the country.

Beijing's Xicheng district police on Monday said they had arrested 14 members of the scalper gang, run by a father-son duo from Jilin province, the Beijing Evening News reported yesterday.

Nine members of the gang, including Yu Hongwen and his son Yu Zhanshui, have been detained for questioning.

Since June, Yu Hongwen and Yu Zhanshui began hiring people to queue up at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital's western branch to buy appointment slots with doctors of the department of immunology, famous for diagnosing and treating severe and complicated diseases.

The group then sold the slots to desperate patients, waiting far behind in the queue, at exorbitant prices.

Police said the gang "almost held a monopoly" in the registration for the department.

The group of scalpers sold special consultation appointments, which usually cost 14 yuan, for 1,400 yuan ($200), police said.

On Oct 19, the group was involved in a scuffle for turf with another scalper gang in downtown Beijing, which led to the arrests.

"Presently we are trying to find other suspected gang members," Wang Wen, vice-captain of criminal investigation detachment of Xicheng police, told China Daily yesterday.

He admitted scalping was a common problem in Beijing's hospitals.

"We will continue to crack down on the illegal act in the future, but we do not have detailed plan yet," Wang said.

Wang Yanjun, deputy head of security office of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, said: "Scalpers have for long been one of the biggest problems in our hospital. We are happy the police have arrested them."

(China Daily Decemer 24, 2008)