LIMA, Peru (AP) 鈥� Two Peruvian police officers disguised as mascots helped to arrest a suspected drug dealer in Lima.
Colonel Carlos Alc谩ntara, head of the Green Squadron 鈥攁 unit that combats common crime 鈥� said they captured Carlos Cabrera, 48, with the help of the two undercover agents on Thursday during the opening match of the World Cup between Mexico and .
鈥淭hanks to intelligence work, we realized that this person was a diehard football fan and was caught up in World Cup fever,” Alc谩ntara said. “Therefore, we decided to disguise personnel as World Cup mascots so we could approach him without raising suspicion and apprehend him.鈥�
The officers as mascots used a metal sledgehammer to break down a door to enter with colleagues.
For the World Cup, Clutch is a bald eagle representing the United States, while Maple is a moose representing Canada. M茅xico is symbolized by a jaguar named Zayu.
Police said 2,524 packets of cocaine base and a gun were found during the operation. In Per煤, the micro-trafficking of drugs is punishable by three to seven years in prison when a person is found with five to 50 grams of cocaine base.
In previous operations, Peruvian police have disguised themselves as other fictional movie characters such as the Grinch, Freddy Krueger, Deadpool and Wolverine and even Santa Claus to approach those they are going to arrest without arousing suspicion.
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