TACOMA, Wash. -- A courier was making a pharmaceutical stop when her van of supplies and narcotics was carjacked, Tacoma police said.

The woman was returning to the van Friday morning near South 9th Street and Saint Helens Avenue in Tacoma when a man grabbed her and threw her to the ground, said Officer Mark Fulghum of the Tacoma Police Department. The robber fled the scene.

Inside the van was about a $250,000 in pharmaceutical supplies, including at least $100,000 in narcotics, Fulghum said.

"There are a variety of drugs that were taken. It was all containerized, just A to Z basically,” Fulghum said.

Tacoma police won't release information on the kind of narcotics taken as investigators are trying to locate the missing drugs.

Some of the missing pharmaceutical supplies are being dumped on side streets and alleys all over the city, according to police reports.

“The concern would be who finds it. If kids find it, they don't know what a lot of it is. None of it's good for them. That would be one of the big concerns and of course if it hits the streets, the wrong people getting a hold of it that would not be a good thing,” Fulghum said.

The van has also been recovered, but all the boxes inside were gone.

Police said it's normal for large amounts of drugs to be delivered by couriers -- or other unsecure means. Once they are in a pharmacy or doctor's office, those drugs must be kept under lock and key.