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
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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.
