Usually, the thought of police going undercover brings to mind Hollywood-esque stakeouts where authorities utilize binoculars in cars. But in Brazil, the cops went undercover for Sao Paulo Carnival celebrations by dressing up as Mario and Luigi to arrest alleged thieves.
Sao Paulo Gov. Tarcisio de Freitas shared a video on X of three officers–two outfitted as the Super Mario Bros., with the other supposedly being Yoshi–placing a suspect in the back of a police vehicle. The short clip also has Super Mario World music playing as a soundtrack. Additionally, the AP reports that the Brazilian police force cosplayed as Power Rangers to arrest multiple people for pickpocketing as well as recover stolen smartphones.
DEPOIS DOS POWER RANGERS, CHEGOU A VEZ DO SUPER MARIO! Nossos heróis da Polícia Civil estão infiltrados pelos bloquinhos de rua e, desta vez, foi a vez do Mario, o Luigi e o Yoshi prenderem mais um bandido interessado apenas em roubar celulares e estragar a festa de quem estava… pic.twitter.com/49fHakAYfe
— Tarcísio Gomes de Freitas (@tarcisiogdf) March 4, 2025
The AP adds that last year a similar strategy was executed by Brazil’s cops, as they try to blunt criminals from taking phones and money from attendees of the Sao Paulo Carnival. The event ran from Friday, February 28, to yesterday, March 4 (Fat Tuesday).
As for the mustachioed siblings, they teamed up once again in Mario & Luigi: Brothership for Switch in November. It was the first entry in the RPG franchise since 2015’s Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, as well as the series’ debut on a home console.
In January, Nintendo revealed Switch 2, with a Direct coming in April to detail the upcoming system further. The Switch 2 debut trailer also teased a new Mario Kart game, which would see Mario and Luigi competing against each other.