An East Liverpool police officer is on the mend after accidentally overdosing during a traffic stop. 

According to police, a suspicious vehicle was seen conducting what appeared to be a drug transaction on Spring Grove Street Friday night. 

When officers tried to pull over the car the driver, 25-year-old Justin Buckle of East Liverpool, reportedly tried to leave, almost backing into an unmarked cruiser. 

Police were able to stop the vehicle at West 8th Street and Lisbon Street, where they say they could see Buckle and the passenger moving around suspiciously inside. 

The passenger, identified as 24-year-old Cortez Collins of Cleveland, was pulled from the car and found to have warrants out for his arrest possession of carfentanil, a dangerous opioid that is sometimes used as an elephant tranquilizer and has become a popular ingredient in potentially dangerous drug mixtures. 

According to a report, while an officer had Buckle at gunpoint still inside the car, he began using his foot to rub a white powder into the carpet. 

Patrolman Chris Green reportedly entered the car and stopped Buckle from destroying the evidence. 

Officials say there were several piles of white powder throughout the front of the car, on Buckle's shoes, on the mouth of an open can of Mountain Dew. There were also small knotted baggies that appeared to have been torn open. 

Police say that Collins and Buckle told them that the white powder was cocaine, but when they field tested the substance it came back negative. 

The suspects then told officers that the drug was in fact fentanyl.

Just moments later, Patrolman Green reportedly started feeling sick and dizzy. It was determined that during the attempt to get Buckle out of the car, the fentanyl had gotten onto his skin. 

Police tell 21 News that once back at the police station, the officer was given a dose of Narcan, the life-saving overdose reversal drug. 

He was given three more Narcan treatments after he was taken to the hospital.

Fentanyl is known to be 50 times more potent than heroin, so much so that just a few granules can be known to cause an overdose. 

According to the Drug Enforcement Agency, fentanyl poses a grave threat to law enforcement officials and first responders, as a lethal dose of fentanyl can be accidentally inhaled or absorbed through the skin. 

Officers with the East Liverpool Police Department say they are shaken by the event, and how quickly things can go badly during stops of these kinds. 

But they are relieved that Officer Green is ok. Officers say things could have been much worse. 

Both Buckle and Collins have been charged with tampering with evidence. Police say they expect more charges will be filed.