Peru police are using “Santa cops” to patrol the capital’s streets and carry out raids in disguise -AFP photo
LIMA: In Peru, Santa Claus doesn’t come down the chimney. He breaks down the door.
At least that’s what happened when police staged an undercover sting operation against a house of suspected drug traffickers, filming the raid in a video that has gone viral online.
It shows the lead officer, dressed in a padded Santa suit to confuse the suspects, swinging a sledgehammer to break down the door.
Wearing a giant mask of jolly old Saint Nick, he proceeds to help his colleagues round up a group of men inside and leads them out in handcuffs.
“The best gift we can give people is a little security,” police colonel Jorge Angulo told America TV after the raid.
The Santa cop is a member of a special undercover unit in Lima that patrols the capital’s streets and carries out raids in disguise.
Other costumes include street sweeper, homeless person and hawker. -AFP