Nebraska authorities last week arrested a 68-year-old Colorado man after they say they found 515 pounds of marijuana worth an estimated $2.5 million in his pickup truck.
Steven McElmury, of the Delta County town of Cedaredge, faces felony accusations in Lancaster County, Neb., in connection with the bust.
Officials say deputies found McElmury’s 2014 Dodge Ram pickup unoccupied in a parking lot after it was spotted heading east on Interstate 80 minutes earlier.
A K-9 indicated there were drugs in the vehicle, the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said, and after a search investigators found the marijuana inside four U-Haul moving boxes, four large duffel bags and a large tote.
The pot was all in the bed of the pickup in “individually heat-sealed pound bags of high-grade marijuana,” the sheriff’s office said.
Authorities also say they found marijuana, drug paraphernalia and $4,441 inside the cab of the truck.
McElmury was booked into jail on suspicion of being in possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. He was also cited for allegedly having drug paraphernalia.
“The investigation into the source of the marijuana and the intended destination for distribution is ongoing,” the sheriff’s office said.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
