Peru police in disguise have struck again. Officers posing as schoolchildren and a wheelchair patient raided a suspected drug house in San Juan de Miraflores, in southern Lima. They detained three people and seized 2,270 packets of cocaine paste, Peruvian outlets reported on Nov. 11.
Grupo Terna, the undercover team of the National Police’s Green Squadron (Escuadrón Verde), ran the raid. Panamericana TV’s morning show aired the video. Outlets from Mexico to Spain ran it within a day.
This is not recycled footage. The Nov. 11 reports carry named detainees, a named commander and a new seizure count.
How the wheelchair disguise worked
The target was a house in the 1 de Junio settlement of San Juan de Miraflores, Infobae reported. Police describe it as the base of a group they call “Los Santurrones.”
The officer playing the patient had a sledgehammer hidden under a blanket, according to Trome’s account of the video. When the order came, he used it on the gate. Officers in school uniforms carried ladders to the second floor to cut off escape routes. A Terna drone filmed from above.
Infobae says the team broke in through several doors and windows. Colonel Pedro Rojas Tipto, head of the Green Squadron, credited what he called a camouflage strategy. In his words, officers were “haciéndonos pasar como escolares, asà como un paciente en silla de ruedas.” That translates as posing as schoolchildren and a wheelchair patient.
What police seized and who was detained
Police found 2,270 packets of cocaine base paste and another 47 grams, according to a Perú21 report carried by Gaceta Perú TV. Peruvian police count cocaine base paste, or PBC, in envoltorios, the small wrapped doses sold on the street.
The three people detained are 45, 37 and 36 years old, that report said. Police took them to the criminal investigations unit (Depincri) in San Juan de Miraflores. Infobae says they remain under investigation, and authorities will decide on any criminal liability.
The stakes are real for street dealers. In Peru, dealing 5 to 50 grams of cocaine base carries three to seven years in prison, AP reported in June.
Five months after the World Cup mascots raid
The same squadron made international news in June. Two officers dressed as Clutch and Maple, the US and Canadian World Cup mascots. They struck during the opening match, Mexico against South Africa. They arrested a 48-year-old suspected dealer in Lima and seized 2,524 packets of cocaine base and a gun, AP reported.
“Thanks to intelligence work, we realized that this person was a diehard football fan,” Colonel Carlos Alcántara, then named as the squadron’s head, told AP. Police chose the disguise to fit the target. The same logic applied in November, when a wheelchair and school uniforms let officers reach the house unnoticed.
Peru’s costume raids, by date
AP lists the Grinch, Freddy Krueger, Deadpool, Wolverine and Santa Claus among earlier disguises. Here are the dated cases we could confirm:
| When | Disguise | Where | Reported result |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 2022 | Santa Claus and elves | Lima | 4 detained, 6,000 packets of cocaine paste (AFP) |
| Oct. 31, 2023 | Horror characters | Not given | 2 alleged clan members arrested (AFP) |
| December 2023 | Santa Claus | Huaral, north of Lima | 2 detained, one presented as “the Grinch” (AFP) |
| Oct. 31, 2024 | Deadpool and Wolverine | RÃmac, Lima | 4 detained, 850 packets of cocaine paste (Infobae) |
| June 2026 | World Cup mascots | Lima | 1 arrested, 2,524 packets, a gun (AP) |
| November 2026 | Schoolchildren, wheelchair patient | San Juan de Miraflores, Lima | 3 detained, 2,270 packets (Perú21) |
Sources: AFP via Taipei Times for 2022 and 2023; Infobae for 2024; AP and Perú21 as linked above for 2026.
The pattern is clear from the dates. Most costumes match a holiday or a big event. On those days a Santa or a mascot draws no attention. The November raid breaks that habit, since school uniforms and wheelchairs fit any weekday.
Why the costume videos travel
Each raid targets the last link in the trade, the street sale. Each also comes with police video ready to share, which a routine bust rarely has. Odd crime stories with video now cross borders in hours, as with the Indian murder suspect who allegedly faked his death with AI photos. In South America, our recent coverage has focused on Brazil’s election rules for AI memes of Lula.
The three suspects remain under investigation in San Juan de Miraflores. The Green Squadron has not said which costume comes next. Police in Lima and Huaral wore Santa suits in December 2022 and December 2023.
