SALEM — More than 500 grams of cocaine, including some still in rock form, was found in a secret hiding spot in a car after a traffic stop on Friday.
"This guy's a major player," said police Capt. Paul Tucker.
Tucker said the value of the drugs is $20,000, "but given the purity, the value would be twice that."
Police had been looking for the car for most of the day last Friday after a tip from Sgt. Harry Rocheville that a car "had a large amount of cocaine" inside.
Tucker said Rocheville, of the department's Community Impact Unit, was able to learn the make and model of the car, as well as the license plate number.
With that information, detectives John Doyle and Tom Brennan, spent the day looking for the car and finally spotted it on Washington Street.
The detectives kept an eye on the car and waited for the driver to commit a traffic violation, which eventually occurred.
Police said the driver, Angel F. Merced Virella, 37, of Salem, didn't use a turn signal when turning. It was enough to stop Virella.
Police Sgt. Marc Berube and other officers stopped the car on Summer Street by Endicott Street.
Virella didn't have a license to drive so he was placed under arrest for driving while unlicensed and failure to use a turn signal.
After police stopped the car, they noticed a half dozen air freshener packets and cologne bottles, an indication to police that Virella was trying to cover up a scent and throw off the scent of a drug-sniffing police canine.
Police also found two cell phones in the car that were constantly ringing with callers asking police who were answering the phone when their deliveries were coming, Tucker said.
Police towed the car back to the police station and obtained a search warrant to look inside the car.
A police K-9 from the Essex County Sheriff's Office hit on an area on the left side of the driver's seat by the floor boards.
Detective Eric Connolly, an expert in locating secret hiding spots commonly used by drug dealers to stash the drugs, found the compartment and dismantled it. The hiding spot was underneath the carpet and the floorboards.
Inside, police found 510 grams (about 1.1 lbs.) of "very pure cocaine" and $1,500 in cash. Also, police found coffee grounds and more air freshener packets.
In the car, police found a receipt that showed Virella wired $1,000 to a "Caribbean country."
Virella will be charged with major trafficking and if convicted, faces a mandatory 15 years in prison.
Tucker credited the Community Impact Unit, the patrol division and detectives working together to arrest Virella.
"This was a significant arrest," he said.
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