Deputies: Elderly couple busted with pot Christmas presents arrested again

An elderly couple arrested last month after police said they claimed they had more than 60 pounds of marijuana in their car to give out as Christmas gifts is facing new charges after being arrested Tuesday morning in Nebraska, according to multiple reports.

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Deputies arrested Patrick Jiron, 80, and his wife, Barbara Jiron, 70, after they were stopped while riding in a pickup truck that was stopped for driving too closely to another vehicle in Lancaster County, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Sgt. Jason Mayo, of the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, told KOLN that the couple's daughter was driving around 9:40 a.m. Tuesday when the truck was pulled over on Interstate 80.

>> Related: Deputies: Elderly couple says 60 pounds of pot in vehicle was for Christmas gifts

Deputies searched the truck and found about $18,000 in cash, according to the World-Herald. A K-9 deployed to search the truck indicated the presence of marijuana and the vehicle smelled strongly of the substance, Mayo said.

Mayo told KOLN that the seized cash tested positive for marijuana residue, as did a 50-gallon trash bag found in the truck.

The couple, from Clearlake Oaks, California, was arrested on suspicion of possessing drug money, the World-Herald reported. Their daughter, who lives in Vermont, was released without charges, according to the newspaper.

The Jirons were arrested two counties over last month by deputies in with the York County Sheriff's Department. Authorities told the York News-Times they found nearly 60 pounds of marijuana, worth an estimated $336,000, after making a traffic stop Dec. 19 on Interstate 80 near Bradshaw.

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