Father Christmas and his little helpers broke down a drug dealer’s door and tackled a gang in Peru in a major criminal operation.

Police dressed as Santa and his elves chose to hammer down the front door rather than climb down the chimney to carry out the drug bust.

Footage of ‘The fall of the Chicago Grinch’ in Surquillo, Lima, showed the festive agents, complete with Father Christmas, Mrs Claus and elves barging into the home.

Mrs Clause is seen carrying a large hammer, which she then swings against the house to enter.

Even the wooden door has a festive stocking nailed to it, before it was knocked down by the agents.

The Christmas crew enter the home alongside other uniformed officers, telling the occupants to freeze and lay down on the floor.

One of the elves is seen pinning one one man to the ground as he cuffs his hands behind his back.

Police official David Villanueva told Peruvian TV: ‘It being Christmas, a Santa in the street does not attract much attention, and we used this to our advantage for this operation.’

Father Christmas and his wife, Mrs Clause, approached the front door swinging a hammer (Picture: Reuters)

Elves helped pin the suspects to the ground to help them arrest them (Picture: Reuters)

He added the suspects, three men and a woman, initially thought it was a joke.

The group named their bust ‘The fall of the Chicago Grinch’ after the festive green monster which stole Christmas, and Surquillo’s nickname of of ‘Little Chicago’ due to gangs in the city.

They successfully seized 6,000 packets of cocaine paste , 104 packets of coaine powder ad 279 packs of marijuana.

They managed to seize 6,000 packets of cocaine paste and 104 packets of cocaine powder (Picture: Handout / Policia Nacional del Peru / AFP)

This is not the first time this same police group has used costumes to make arrests.

In November the agents ‘disguised’ themselves as marvel characters to bust a drug gang.

They hoped to be mistaken for children’s entertainers school, and used their disguises to blend in with their surroundings.

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They are now on Santa’s naughty list.