Under grow lights, marijuana is legally cultivated at the 3D Cannabis Center in Denver on January 1, 2014. In Nebraska this week, an elderly couple was arrested for having 60 pounds of marijuana. File Photo by Gary C. Caskey/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 21 (UPI) -- An elderly couple allegedly caught with 60 pounds of marijuana in Nebraska told police their stash was for Christmas gifts.

Patrick Jiron, 80, and Barbara Jiron, 83, were driving on their way from their home in Clearlake Oaks, Calif. to Vermont when deputies from the York County Sheriff's Department in the Cornhusker State stopped them for failing to use their turn signal.


When deputies stepped up to the Jirons' Toyota Tacoma, they said they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and found boxes of pot in the pickup topper, according to the Scottsbluff Star Herald.

"They said the marijuana was for Christmas presents," said Lt. Paul Vrbka.

Vrbka said the estimated street value of the marijuana was $336,000, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

The octogenarian couple were charged with felony suspicion of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver and no drug tax stamp.