Mascot Drug Bust
Peruvian Police Use World Cup Mascot Disguises to Capture Drug Dealer in Lima
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Two Peruvian police officers dressed as World Cup mascots Clutch and Maple smashed down a door with a metal sledgehammer and arrested a drug dealer in a poor neighborhood of Lima Associated Press. The May 31 raid seized 2,500 small cocaine paste packets and 200 bags of marijuana from the suspect's home in the San Martín de Porres district.
The officers belonged to the Grupo Terna, a special unit of Peru's National Police known for using costumes to catch criminals off guard Associated Press. Colonel Walter Palomino explained the logic simply:
Why Police Wore Plush Costumes to Make the Bust
Drug corners in Lima's dense neighborhoods rely on lookouts called "campanas" — street sentries who warn dealers the moment they spot uniformed officers Associated Press. Colonel Palomino said his unit chose the World Cup theme because the 2026 tournament, hosted across the US, Canada, and Mexico, is "a topic of high public interest right now." The costumes let two officers walk within meters of the target house before anyone raised an alarm.
Ten officers total took part in the operation. Two wore the full-body plush suits. Eight others in plain clothes backed them up. Once the mascots broke open the door, the support team moved in fast Associated Press. Police arrested two people — one man and one woman — at the scene.
Peru's Police Have a Long History of Costume Raids
This was not the first time the Grupo Terna used a disguise to make an arrest. On Valentine's Day 2024, officers dressed as a giant teddy bear to lure a female dealer out of her home in San Juan de Lurigancho. In late 2023, agents wore Deadpool and Wolverine costumes during a drug den raid. At Christmas 2022, an officer in a Santa Claus suit led a breach of a reinforced door Associated Press.
Peruvian law under Legislative Decree 1186 allows police to use "unconventional tactics" in high-density urban areas. The rule exists because standard uniforms in tight alleyways give dealers enough warning to flush evidence or flee. The costume strategy turns that problem around — suspects often do not react until it is too late.
Seized Drugs and the Wider Peru Cocaine Crisis
Officers recovered 2,500 "ketes" — small paper-wrapped doses of cocaine paste known locally as PBC — plus 200 small bags of marijuana Associated Press. PBC is a cheap, highly addictive byproduct of cocaine production. It is the drug of choice in Lima's poorest districts because a single dose can cost less than one US dollar.
Peru is the world's second-largest cocaine producer. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reports coca cultivation in the country has exceeded 95,000 hectares in recent years. Analysts warn that removing one micro-trafficker like the suspect arrested — identified by police as Oscar Ramos, alias "El Gordo" — rarely disrupts the supply chain for long, given the volume of production coming out of Peru's VRAEM jungle region Associated Press.
Viral Arrests Draw Praise and Skepticism at Home
Video of the costumed officers went viral across Latin America and landed in outlets from the UK to the US. Many Peruvians on social media praised the creativity and noted the arrests appeared to be non-violent Associated Press. The Ministry of the Interior promoted the footage as proof that "the police are everywhere, even in a plush costume."
Not everyone cheered. Some legal scholars in Peru raised questions about due process — specifically whether disguising officers as fictional characters could complicate the chain of evidence or the legality of the entry if the warrant was not precise enough. Critics on social media also argued the spectacle "trivializes" the country's serious and deadly drug war Associated Press.
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