The Police has issued a warning about a group they have identified as the “Blood Gang” which uses social media, namely Facebook, to lure their victims.

The warning came in a media statement the Police posted on its Facebook page on Monday where it confirmed that two men are in Police custody in relation to an assault incident at the Savalalo market last week.

How the group lures their victims, the Police do not say.

But they confirm that a video clip of the incident last week went viral on Facebook where the defendants were caught on camera assaulting a 17-year-old at the Savalalo market.

“Police preliminary investigations into this matter indicates that a group known on social media as ‘Blood Gang’ comprising of young men and women under 20 years of age are utilising social media (Facebook) as means of luring their victims and then ambushing them,” the Police statement said.

“Samoa Police Service (‘SPS’) wishes to advice the public that the use of social media is for good, positive and appropriate practice.

“The use of social media to instigate violence sheds negativity on our Christian community. The arrest of these youths should be a deterrent for those who are contemplating to inappropriately use social media to commit crime.”

The two suspects are expected to appear in Court on 9 September 2019.