A group of local young men have extorted money from drivers passing an expressway in northern Vietnam and proudly showed their crime to the world via Facebook Live, which eventually became a lead for police to catch them.

Eleven young men are seen stopping drivers on the Hanoi – Lao Cai expressway part that pass through Phu Ninh District in Phu Tho Province and threatened to damage their vehicles to ask for money in a Facebook Live video on Friday.

The video was filmed and broadcast live by one of the men, and the footage was soon reported to local authorities.

Later the same day, Phu Ninh authorities said they had identified nine of the extorters after considering the live video and had police summon them for investigation.

Two others managed to escape and remain at large.

The captured gang members are between 17 to 19 years of age, with seven of them hailing from Phu Ninh District.

According to the offenders’ testimonies, they were drunk at the time of the extortion.

The group managed to squeeze VND600,000 (US$26.5) from several people passing the expressway on Friday, and had used up VND400,000 ($18) at the time of arrest.

Police have also seized various weapons used by the extorters such as knives, machetes, and wooden sticks.

According to the Facebook Live video, the teenagers used their weapons to hit on the side of several trucks to ask for money with constant swearing.

During the extortion, several members came to stand in front of the camera to shout, swear, and ‘say hello’ to users who were watching them via the live-stream feature on Facebook.