Placed under arrest: the Grinch steals Christmas… from three drug dealers

A Peruvian national police officer donned a Grinch costume before taking part in the arrest of a group of drug traffickers for whom Christmas may be much less festive, behind bars, this year.

«[T]”Three drug traffickers are currently in custody,” after an agent “ingeniously managed to go unnoticed, disguised as a Grinch,” said a police officer from Peru's National Police Agency, according to NBC News on Tuesday.

Last week, local police reportedly arrested three individuals from Lima in Peru, two women and a man, who were on Santa's blacklist for having probably taken part in micro-drug trafficking in the capital, we can read.

But to dismantle the small group, the police decided to add a touch of humor to the arrest by disguising one of their agents as the Grinch, the grumpy character of the author Dr. Seuss who tries to steal Christmas from the residents. .

In a video shared by the national police, we can see the green mascot, dressed in a Santa coat, breaking down the front door of a home with a hammer, before placing members of a family under arrest of alleged traffickers.

We can then see the character searching the home with his colleagues, before getting their hands on property resulting from crime, including drugs, money and several cell phones, we can see in the Agency's images France-Presse (AFP).

The identities of the three individuals have not been released, although a photo shows all three under arrest with the Grinch at their side.

This operation is part of a tradition of the Peruvian National Police to disguise themselves during large operations in the run-up to a party, according to NBC News.

Last year, on the eve of Valentine's Day, one of the agents disguised himself as a teddy bear to catch two women selling cocaine and marijuana in the north of Lima, according to the American media.