Traffic stop nets 2,000 ecstasy pills, Marianna man arrested

By Greg Phillips

Published: July 9, 2008

A 21-year-old Florida man was caught attempting to transport 2,000 ecstasy pills into Dothan on Wednesday, according to Barbour County Chief Deputy Eddie Ingram.
Barbour County Sheriff’s officers arrested Joshua Godwin Parish of Marianna at 11:11 a.m. Wednesday after a routine traffic stop on U.S. 431 near Eufaula led to the discovery of the pills.
According to Ingram, the street value of the ecstasy is estimated at $50,000.
“Some of it was going to Dothan, and some of it was going to Panama City,” Ingram said. “This is quite a bit of ecstasy on any highway. This is something you see running between Birmingham and Atlanta, not Dothan and Atlanta. It’s a substantial amount of ecstasy.”
Deputies stopped Parish’s 2002 Honda Accord for a routine traffic violation, but became suspicious when he “contradicted himself.”
“He just couldn’t get his story together,” Ingram said. “We told him we smelled marijuana in the car, he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got marijuana, let me get it for you.’ We told him he wasn’t getting anything.”
Ingram said most of the pills were covered in clothing inside duffel bags in the back of the car.
According to Ingram, the arrest was particularly troubling because of the drug’s fatal qualities.
“Ecstasy is one of the leading causes of death in the United States among young people,” Ingram said. “All these young people think it’s a feel-good drug, but in fact, it’s a killer of youths across the nation right now. It’s nothing more than a derivative of methamphetamine, which is what makes it so dangerous. Usually the users of ecstasy will graduate to full-blown (meth). It’s a serious drug, it’s nothing kids need to play or experiment with.”
Parish is being held at the Barbour County Jail without bond under charges of trafficking a controlled substance and second-degree possession of marijuana. Ingram said the case will be turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration on Thursday morning.
Ingram said it is “very possible” Parish’s possession of marijuana charge will be upgraded to a felony as well.