OREM, Utah — A woman was arrested Monday night after police say they found thousands of fentanyl pills and several pounds of methamphetamine in her car during a traffic stop.
Deputies pulled the woman over on the southbound I-15 on-ramp at 1600 North in Orem just after 10 p.m. for a traffic violation, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office.
While talking to the driver, one of the deputies "saw evidence in the car of drug use." They then asked her to exit the car while they searched it.
While he was searching a suitcase in the car, "some form of powder" reportedly blew into one deputy's face.
"He immediately began to experience dizziness, so he stepped back from the car and warned other Deputies who arrived to assist him," a press release from the sheriff's office stated.
He began feeling even dizzier a short time later and had trouble breathing, officials said. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment. He has since been released and is expected to fully recover.
The other deputies then continued to search the car with extra precautions.
The search reportedly turned up 9.6 pounds of methamphetamine, which equated to more than 40,000 doses, and about 5,000 blue pills made with fentanyl and made to look like oxycodone.
"These pills are manufactured outside the United States by drug dealers, not by legitimate pharmaceutical companies," the press release read. "There is no way a person can be certain of the amount of any given drug or cutting agent in them. This makes it extremely dangerous, and potentially fatal, to ingest them."
The driver, 40-year-old Tanya Tuttle Mize of Springville, was arrested on suspicion of nine different charges, including distribution of a controlled substance, possession of a controlled substance, driving under the influence, obstructing justice, and various traffic-related offenses.
Mize is being held in the Utah County Jail without bail.
