The Grinch who stole Christmas from alleged drug dealers in Peru

The Grinch isn’t just stealing Christmas this year, he might be busting drug gangs too.

A Peruvian police officer dressed as Dr. Suess’s notorious Christmas-hating ugly claimed responsibility for the naughty list last week after leading a police operation in the capital, Lima, to bust an alleged drug-trafficking gang.

Footage provided by the National Police shows the Grinch, dressed in a Santa Claus jacket, running down a street in San Bartolo, south Lima, with a sledgehammer slung over his shoulder.

The Grinch smashes a door with his hammer and, along with other members of law enforcement, raids a building of a family of alleged drug dealers, one of them yelling “police!” before putting a woman in chains inside the building.

The identity of the officer dressed as the Grinch was not released. The police and the Grinch uncover what appear to be drugs. Video then shows the Grinch escorting two women into the back of a police car.

An officer standing in front of the Grinch and his sledgehammer says his group caught “three drug dealers who are now in custody,” after an agent “brilliantly managed to go unnoticed disguised as the Grinch.”

Photos released by police also show the Grinch standing next to the accused at a table covered in what appears to be cash and drugs collected from the scene.

The police have not released the identity of the accused and the results of the case against.

The effort was part of the police unit’s ongoing tradition of dressing agents in festive costumes when conducting operations during holiday periods such as Halloween and Christmas.

On the eve of Valentine’s Day earlier this year, an undercover policeman in a teddy bear costume turned up at the home of an alleged drug dealer and delivered “a fake love surprise” as part of an operation in Lima.

Agents have also dressed up as superheroes and horror movie characters like Freddy Krueger and Jason. With the Grinch at the helm, Peru’s criminals now know who’s in charge.