Peruvian police dress as Santa and elves for drug raid

A family of alleged drug dealers in Peru found themselves firmly on the naughty list this year as police officers dressed as Santa and an elf raided their home.

The festive operation, which took place on December 5 in Lima, resulted in four arrests, according to a statement from the Peruvian National Police released Wednesday.

Police recorded the raid in a video which shows the officers break down a door to a house before arresting a man in a blue t-shirt.

Officers also seized 1,187 small packets of coca paste, a waste product of cocaine; 166 small packets of marijuana; a .38 caliber pistol and five bullets, according to the statement.

Police have handed the four men arrested over to public prosecutors, the police spokesperson told CNN, and they could face three to seven years in prison.

The officers involved are from an undercover unit known as Grupo Terna, which has form for using disguises during operations.

In 2016 the unit conducted another raid dressed as Santa Claus and elves, and they have also been known to disguise themselves as homeless people.

“Agents from Grupo Terna disguise themselves in order to carry out their police operations without being discovered,” said the spokesperson.

And Peruvian police aren’t the only force getting into the festive spirit.

Cops dressed as Santa Claus and his elf jumped into action when they saw a car being stolen on December 10, said police in Riverside, California.

The undercover police officer and detective were outside a busy shopping center on as part of a holiday enforcement program when they saw three men in the process of stealing a Honda CR-V from the parking lot, according to a post on the Riverside Police Department’s Facebook page.