The Peruvian National Police released footage of the arrest on their official TikTok account on June 13 (local time).
In the video, two police officers drew attention by dressing up as "Clutch," the bald eagle, and "Maple," the moose, which are mascots for the North and Central America World Cup.
FIFA introduced three mascots—Maple, Zayu, and Clutch—to symbolize the joint hosting of the North and Central America World Cup.
Maple is a moose, a large deer species from Canada; Zayu is a jaguar from Mexico; and Clutch is a bald eagle, the national bird of the United States.
The video shows the two officers, dressed as Clutch and Maple, breaking down a metal door with a hammer, entering the house, and apprehending a suspect wearing a white sleeveless shirt.
Police seized bags containing white powder and firearms before arresting and taking the suspect, identified as Carlos Cabrera, into custody.
Colonel Carlos Alcantara of the Peruvian police's "Green Squad" explained in an interview with the Associated Press, "Our intelligence revealed that the suspect was a huge soccer fan and deeply immersed in the World Cup fever. We had our agents dress up as World Cup mascots so they could approach the suspect without raising suspicion and carry out the arrest."
The police conducted the operation during the Group A opening match of the North and Central America World Cup between Mexico and South Africa.
Previously, the Peruvian police have carried out operations disguised as various movie characters, including the Grinch, Freddy Krueger, Deadpool, Wolverine, and Santa Claus, to avoid alerting their targets.
(Photo: Screenshot from Peruvian National Police TikTok, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.