Police: Man Dealt Cocaine Out of Brickbottom Garage

Police seized 15 baggies of cocaine, eight baggies of heroin and $2,744 in cash after arresting two men in the Brickbottom neighborhood of Somerville, according to a Somerville police report.

Most of the drugs were found in a hidden compartment, known in the drug trade as a "clavo," in a minivan, the report says.

According to the report, police arrested Manuel Farias, 40, of 152 Glen St., and Carlos Jimenez-Vazquez, of Boston, on Dec. 6 after an investigation into a cocaine distribution operation allegedly run by Farias.

The report says the Somerville Police Department's drug control unit was conducting an ongoing investigation into Farias, whom, according to a confidential source, was dealing cocaine out of his home and his place of employment—a garage at the intersection of Fitchburg and Linwood streets.

Police set up surveillance near the garage and observed Farias, on Dec. 5, conduct what appeared to be a drug deal with someone in a Toyota Sienna minivan, the report alleges.

On Dec. 6, police set up more surveillance near the garage and observed the same minivan circle the neighborhood and then pick up Farias, according to the report.

Police stopped the minivan and, with help from an Everett Police Department drug-sniffing dog named Xando, found a hidden compartment in the car, where they uncovered heroin and cocaine, the report says.

Farias was charged with drug possession and conspiracy to violate drug law. Jimenez-Vazquez was charged with cocaine trafficking, drug possession and conspiracy to violate drug law.

The above information was supplied by the Somerville Police Department. Where arrests or charges are mentioned, it does not indicate a conviction.