Police in Peru took a novel approach to clamping down on drug trafficking on Wednesday as they conducted a raid in Lima disguised as the 2026 World Cup mascots.
A video posted to the police’s official TikTok account showed officers dressed as Clutch the Bald Eagle and Maple the Moose break through a gate with a battering ram before arresting a man in a white vest.
The video also showed officers recovering packets of white powder and a firearm, and included the caption: “World Cup Mode: Operation ends with the fall of “Pichichi.”
Colonel Carlos Fredy Alcántara Obregón, head of the police’s Green Squad, told the Associated Press: “Thanks to the intelligence work carried out by the team, we were able to establish that the person we were about to arrest was a die-hard football fan, living and breathing the World Cup fever.
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“So we proceeded to disguise my Green Squad personnel as World Cup mascots in order to approach him without arousing suspicion and make the arrest.”
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This is not the first time Peruvian police have donned eye-catching costumes while making arrests.
On Valentine’s Day in 2025, an officer dressed as a capybara wearing a turtle-shaped backpack to make an arrest in a drug probe in Lima. Other officers have also previously disguised themselves as Marvel superheroes.
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Peru did not qualify for this year’s World Cup, having finished ninth out of the 10 CONMEBOL teams. Their last appearance in the competition came in 2018.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.
