A police squad, with an agent dressed as Santa Claus, launched an operation in a dangerous neighborhood north of Lima against a gang dedicated to micro-drug trafficking.
On Christmas Eve, undercover agents surprised two men selling coca base and marijuana in a home in the city of Huaral, about 70 kilometers north of the Peruvian capital, according to images and official statements.
“Personnel from the Terna Group have dressed up as Santa Claus to go unnoticed in this dangerous neighborhood,” Colonel Walter Palomino, head of the Green Squadron of the National Police, told the press this Saturday.
“The strategy was successful. Christmas came to the Evil Reindeer,” the officer added.
For some time now, the police have often distracted suspected criminals with disguises and operations that they launch on special dates.
On this occasion, an agent dressed in the traditional Santa Claus costume was responsible for breaking down the door of the raided home with a large mallet and arresting one of the suspects.
During the action, two men were arrested and hundreds of packages of cocaine paste and marijuana were seized, the value of which has not been quantified by the authorities.
One of those captured was presented to the press with the alias “The Grinch”, like the popular character from the American animated film.
On October 31, a similar operation had been carried out on the occasion of the Halloween party, also against alleged retail drug traffickers, one of the crimes that has grown the most in Peru in recent years.
Then, the agents dressed up as terrifying characters to arrest two alleged members of the “Balboa Clan” who they initially believed were the butt of a prank.
