In a bizarre Valentine’s Day surprise, a police officer in Peru’s capital Lima, carried out a drug raid while wearing a capybara costume, as per a BBC report. Video footage going viral on social media shows the officer, dressed up as the giant rodent, zeroing in on the suspected drug trafficker. The officer can be seen barging into the house, tackling the accused man to the ground and putting him in handcuffs.

Police officials stated that more than 1,700 packages of cocaine and marijuana were found during the raid. Notably, Peru’s Escuadron Verde – a specialist anti-drugs unit carried out the operation using the rather unconventional method.

“On this occasion, Valentine’s Day, lover’s day, we sought to camouflage ourselves with the character of the capybara,” said unit leader Col Pedro Rojas.

Notably, the same unit has previously dressed their officers up as Marvel characters like Spiderman, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow whilst carrying out the drug raids. The agents wear the fancy dress during festivities such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas.

Capybara undercover: Peruvian police strike again with new detention tactics

This time, an officer of the National Police of Peru disguised himself as a capybara to apprehend a drug trafficker.

(@geopolitics_live telegram) pic.twitter.com/oWchS0WCva

— Roberto Botella (@botella_roberto) February 15, 2025

Also Read | New Frog Species Named After Hollywood Actor Leonardo DiCaprio

Social media reacts

As the video garnered numbers on social media, users reacted in a humorous vein with many poking fun at the drug traffickers who got arrested by a giant rodent.

“Well, that’s one way to maintain your cover,” said one user, while another added: “The drug trafficker must have lost all respect in his community after being arrested by a CAPYBARA. Lol. You cannot write this”

A third commented: “Thank you capybara cop, whoever you are. And thank you for giving us a good laugh.”

On Halloween last year, the Peruvian police officers dressed up as Deadpool and Wolverine and conducted a similar drug raid. At the time, the superhero-dressed officers managed to seize 54 bags of cocaine, 850 packets of coca base paste, and over Rs 46,800 (2,000 Peruvian soles).

As per the United Nations, the South American country is one of the world’s largest producers of coca leaf and cocaine.

New Delhi:

In a joint operation of Delhi and Gujarat Police, at least 518 kilograms of cocaine were recovered from Gujarat’s Ankleshwar on Sunday and five people were arrested, officials said.

The officials said the new seizure was connected to the recovery of 700 kilograms of cocaine in Delhi. With this, 1,289 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana, worth more than Rs 13,000 crore, have been recovered so far. The number of arrests in this connection has risen to 12.

Sources said this is believed to be the biggest-ever seizure by any agency in the country.

According to a Delhi Police officer, during investigations into the previous seizure of 700 kg of cocaine, the Special Cell found the drugs were brought from Avkar Drugs Limited Company in Ankleshwar.

On Sunday, a team of the Special Cell was sent to Gujarat and the cocaine was recovered from the company’s godown, the officer said, adding five people were also arrested from the spot.

Police said the accused are being further interrogated regarding the alleged international syndicate running from Dubai and the UK.

On October 2, the Special Cell seized more than 560 kg of cocaine and 40 kg of hydroponic marijuana estimated to be worth Rs 5,620 crore from a godown in south Delhi’s Mahipalpur and arrested four people. Two others were subsequently apprehended from Amritsar and Chennai.

Then in the second big drugs haul in a week, the Special Cell seized 208 kg of cocaine worth Rs 2,080 crore from a rented shop in west Delhi on Thursday.

On Thursday, police arrested one more person from Uttar Pradesh’s Hapur. He was the seventh person to be arrested in the case.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Sydney:

A New Zealand charity apologised on Wednesday for distributing dozens of pineapple-flavoured candies that were found to be laced with potentially lethal amounts of methamphetamine.

The Auckland City Mission, that donates parcels of essentials to New Zealanders who cannot afford food, said it first became aware of the issue on Tuesday afternoon when some recipients complained about the foul-tasting candies.

Three people – a child, a teenager and a charity worker – sought medical treatment after tasting the boiled sweets, though none are currently in hospital, Detective Inspector Glenn Baldwin from Auckland police told reporters.

There was no suggestion of wrongdoing by the charity, he added.

“To say we are devastated is an understatement,” the Mission said in a statement.

The candy, which was donated by an unknown member of the public, was tested by the New Zealand Drug Foundation charity, which found they contained a potentially lethal 3 grams (0.1 oz)of methamphetamine.

“A common dose to swallow is between 10-25mg, so this contaminated lolly contained up to 300 doses,” said foundation Executive Director Sarah Helm.

Police believed the candies were the by product of an international drug trafficking operation and have called for them to be handed them over to the authorities. They are also investigating how the candies entered the country, Baldwin said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)