Undercover Santa nabs drug dealer in Peru
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A police officer from the traffic squad dressed as Santa Claus rides on a motorcycle through the streets of Lima on Dec 19.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LIMA - A Peruvian police squad used an agent dressed as Father Christmas to infiltrate an unsafe neighbourhood outside Lima and bust a small drug ring, authorities said on Dec 23.
The undercover operation led to the arrest of two men selling cocaine and marijuana in a house in Huaral, about 70km north of the Peruvian capital.
Agents “disguised themselves as Santa Claus to go unnoticed in this dangerous neighbourhood”, Colonel Walter Palomino, head of the National Police Green Squadron, told reporters.
“The strategy was successful. Christmas came to the Evil Reindeer,” he said, using a seasonal nickname for the illicit gang.
An officer disguised as the white-bearded figure from the North Pole broke down a house door with a large sledgehammer and arrested one of the suspects.
Instead of offering jolly cheer, Santa and his helpers arrested two men and seized hundreds of packets of cocaine paste and marijuana, according to police, who did not announce a specific amount or value of the drugs.
One of those captured was presented to the press under an alias: “The Grinch,” after a fictional character created by US children’s author Dr Seuss.
For years, police in the South American nation – one of the world’s biggest cocaine producers – have been using disguises during anti-drug operations
On Oct 31, police used the occasion of Halloween to disguise themselves as horror characters and arrested two alleged members of the Balboa clan, a drug gang.
Before Christmas in 2022, police in Lima dressed as Santa and his elves conducted a similar operation, arresting four suspects and seizing 6,000 packets of cocaine paste. AFP
