Peruvian police conduct drugs raid dressed as Santa Claus and elf

The festively themed officers broke into the suspected drug dealer’s home using a large hammer.

Peruvian police disguised themselves as Santa Claus and an elf to conduct a drugs raid.

The festive officers swooped on the home in the capital city of Lima to arrest a suspected drug dealer.

They arrived in an undercover van on Sunday dressed in their disguises, with flak jackets hidden underneath.

In the footage, they use a large hammer to smash into the house and then wrestle with the individual suspected of dealing cocaine and marijuana.

In the video one of the agents can be heard shouting: “We are the police, we are the green squad, this is an anti-drugs operation.”

Santa Claus and elf officers can be seen pinning the suspect down in the Villa El Salvador district of the city.

Police in Peru have used the tactic of dressing in disguise before, and insist it helps create the element of surprise.

They have previously dressed up as street sweepers and homeless people.

The arrested man had allegedly been videotaped selling drugs outside his home near a school, a police spokesman said. 

At the house, police found a bag with hundreds of small bags that appeared to contain drugs, a revolver and a balaclava, he said.

"With the results we are seeing, a significant amount of drugs has been confiscated, both marijuana and basic cocaine paste in ketes (small packages of drugs), a firearm has also been seized," said Colonel Fredy Velasquez, head of the Grupo Terna drugs squad.