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Ho-Ho-Hands Up! Santa Helps Raid Drug Cartel

By George Khoury, Esq. on December 15, 2016 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

Santa Claus must be ahead of schedule this holiday season as he helped effect a raid on a drug cartel in Lima, Peru this week. Normally, those on Santa's naughty list either don't get any presents at all, or maybe get a lump of coal. However, this Santa had a different plan.

Video shows an undercover officer dressed as Santa wielding a sledge-hammer to bash in a front door and make several arrests. Apparently, Santa's gift bag held the massive hammer along with his colleagues' guns. As a result of the raid, four men were arrested and 4,500 cocaine wraps were discovered. Peru is known as the world's largest producer of cocaine.

Undercover Santa Diversion

The undercover Santa was used as a diversion to allow officers to get close to the entry way without raising the occupants' suspicion of police, essentially giving officers the element of surprise. As you can see from the video, the occupants were definitely surprised as the Santa costume included a full belly and large, cartoonish mask.

Santa Con to Santa Cop

Santa Claus costumes have been facing some controversy in recent years due to the growing popularity of "Santa Cons." Generally, these events involve adults getting dressed up in Santa costumes, then going on pub-crawls after a brief parade or gathering. While these events sound like (and actually are) quite a bit of fun to be a part of, or even just witness, some local businesses dread the annual events.

When the large groups of Santas gather, sometimes a few bad apples will cause problems, either by running out on bar or food tabs, or even by ransacking local businesses. Business owners are often left with very little recourse as they can only tell officers that someone in a Santa suit did this, which leaves officers with impossible task of trying to figure out which of the thousand Santas that may be out and about did the crime.

It looks like in Lima, law enforcement has found a way to utilize the anonymity that comes with donning the Santa costume for crime fighting, rather than crime committing.

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