A man and woman were arrested this week after they allegedly tossed 30,000 fentanyl pills from a car during a pursuit that began in Costa Mesa, police said.

Police pulled over a 2016 Ford Edge shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 24, near Santa Ana Avenue in Costa Mesa for not making a traffic stop, Costa Mesa police spokesperson Roxi Fyad said. The vehicle fled and a pursuit began, during which a passenger allegedly threw bags of pills out of the car, Fyad added.

The pursuit ended at Dover Drive in Newport Beach, where 49-year-old Oscar Mercado-Arriaga, from South Gate, and 39-year-old Natalie Contreras, from Gardena, were arrested on suspicion of evading police and possession of fentanyl, according to Fyad. A third person also was in the car during the pursuit but was not arrested.

Mercado-Arriaga and Contreras were transported to Orange County Jail but released pending lab results from the pills, Fyad said.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office did not immediately confirm when Mercado-Arriaga and Contreras were next due to appear in court.

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