Two Peruvian police officers dressed as World Cup mascots helped arrest a suspected drug dealer in Lima on Thursday. The operation targeted Carlos Cabrera, 48, a self-described football fan, during the tournament's opening match.
Col. Carlos Alcántara, head of the Green Squadron, said officers disguised themselves as Clutch the bald eagle and Maple the moose to approach the suspect without suspicion.
"Thanks to intelligence work, we realized that this person was a diehard football fan and was caught up in World Cup fever," Alcántara told The Associated Press. "Therefore, we decided to disguise personnel as World Cup mascots so we could approach him without raising suspicion and apprehend him."
The officers used a metal sledgehammer to break down a door during the raid. Police recovered 2,524 packets of cocaine base and a gun at the scene. Cabrera faces three to seven years in prison for micro-trafficking if convicted.
