THIS is the bizarre moment cops dressed as Power Rangers arrested a suspected phone snatcher in the middle of a carnival.

Cops mingled with other revellers wearing costumes of comic characters including Robin and Batman to catch the suspect.

Footage shows around half a dozen officers pinning him to the ground near Ibirapuera Park in the city of São Paulo.

They found seven mobile phones on the guy, which he stole along with his accomplice.

The officers then marched him away and bundled him inside a patrol car before taking him to the nearby station for formal identification and fingerprinting.

They are now trying to track down another man understood to be his accomplice who managed to flee before he could be held.

Guilherme Derritte, Sao Paulo state’s Public Security Ministry, said: “This guy didn’t count on the support of our Civil Police Power Rangers and our military police officers in a beautiful team effort.

“The carnival cry became the cry of relief of a population that can no longer stand impunity.

“Another one handed over to the courts and seven mobile phones recovered.”

This is the second year Undercover cops wearing fancy dress have been used to identify and apprehend criminals targeting carnival-goers.

Officials said nearly 900 mobile phones were stolen during pre-carnival events in the Brazilian state last weekend.

On Valentine’s Day, a Peruvian police officer dressed as a capybara carried out a drugs raid.

Video footage showed the giant rodent swooping on a suspected drugs trafficker in the southern American country’s capital city Lima.

He was seen barging into the house, tackling the man to the ground and putting him in handcuffs.

During the raid, more than 1,700 packages of cocaine and marijuana were found.

The bizarre clip ended with the capybara posing for the photo with the suspect and the mounds of drugs laid out on a table.

The operation was carried out by Peru‘s Escuadron Verde – a specialist anti-drugs unit that often disguises its officers in fancy dress for festivities such as Valentine’s Day, Halloween and Christmas.

They have previously donned Spiderman, Captain America, Thor and Black Widow costumes to carry out drugs raids.