Updated at 3.50pm

PERUVIAN POLICE DISGUISED as priests and toting bibles arrested a female drug dealer in a bustling area of Lima.

After tracking the woman’s movements for two weeks, the officers finally pounced on Monday as part of an offensive to counter a crime wave, said Dario Calvo, head of a police intelligence unit.

He said officers have also posed as street hawkers, beggars and mentally disabled people as they try to blend in on the streets and do intelligence work.

“As we are fighting crime, we have to be a little ingenious to disguise ourselves and capture criminals,” Calvo told AFP.

“It is very effective.”