Peruvian narcotics officers got into the Christmas spirit when it came to a recent bust of a suspected drug dealer.
Cops filmed footage of an operation Sunday that shows the moment they stormed a house in Lima dressed as Santa Claus and an elf, but they weren't there to deliver gifts. Instead, the cops in disguise used the ruse to arrest a suspected cocaine and marijuana dealer.
The drugs squad agents, dressed in red, white and green outfits with flak jackets hidden underneath, arrived in an undercover van.
The agent in the Santa Claus outfit led the way and used a large hammer to break down the door and surprise the suspect.
Peruvian narcotic cops dressed as Santa Claus and an elf raided a home in Lima and arrested a man suspected of selling cocaine and marijuana on Sunday. The police recovered a bag with at least 100 small plastic bags filled with marijuana as well as cocaine paste and a revolver
A police officer dresses as Santa Claus uses a hammer to break the door of an alleged local drug dealer in Lima, Peru, on Sunday
A police officer dressed in a Santa Claus outfit places a neighborhood drug dealer in a choke hold before his partner, in an elf costume, aids him in placing the suspect under arrest
'We are the police, we are the green squad, this is an anti-drug operation,' one of the agents yelled in footage.
The Santa Claus cop placed the man in a choke hold with the aid of the elf who pinned the suspect to the ground and handcuffed him in the Villa El Salvador district of Lima.
The man, who did not resist arrest, pleaded with the agents not to harm his son.
Narcotic police officers in Lima, Peru, recovered hundreds of small bags with marijuana
Gun confiscated at a raid at a home in Lima, Peru, on Sunday that was led by two police officers dressed as Santa Claus and an elf
Police officers dress as Santa Claus and an elf arrested an alleged drug dealer at his home on Sunday in Lima, Peru. The agents recovered at least 100 small bags with marijuana, cocaine, and a gun
The tactic of launching raids particularly to take down drug gangs using operatives in dress-up is a common tactic of Peruvian police to assure the element of surprise which, they say, has brought some notable successes in recent years.
The arrested man had been videotaped selling drugs outside his home near a school, a police spokesman said.
At the house, police found a bag with hundreds of small bags that appeared to contain marijuana. The cops also confiscated a revolver and a balaclava, he said.
'With the results we are seeing, a significant amount of drugs has been confiscated, both marijuana and basic cocaine paste in small packages of , a firearm has also been seized,' said Colonel Fredy Velasquez, head of the Grupo Terna drugs squad.
