Ex-Arsenal player admits plot to smuggle £600k of cannabis after UK airport arrest

Former striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has admitted involvement in a plot to smuggle drugs with a street value of £600,000 from Thailand into the UK. The 34-year-old was arrested after 60kg of cannabis was found in suitcases that arrived at London Stansted Airport on September 2.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who gave his address as Cardwell Road, Gourock, near Glasgow, pleaded guilty to the offence in May. Reporting restrictions initially put on the case were lifted on Wednesday. The ex- youth international will now be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court at a later date.

After being arrested on September 18, he was sacked by Scottish Championship club Greenock Morton. He was signed on a six-month deal in July and made just six club appearances before his arrest.

Prosecutor David Josse KC said the National Crime Agency (NCA) had conducted a "very thorough investigation." He confirmed the prosecution had dropped charges against Rosie Rowland, 28, of Southend Road, Chelmsford, and 33-year-old Yasmin Piotrowska, of Purves Road, north-west London.

At earlier hearings, the pair had denied importing cannabis between July 1 and September 2. Mr Josse explained the investigation into their involvement ended after analysis of Emmanuel-Thomas's mobile phone. saying: "They thought they were importing gold, not cannabis."

Mr Josse reminded the court that the NCA previously said the drugs had arrived in suitcases from Bangkok via Dubai. The maximum prison sentence for smuggling cannabis into the UK is 14 years.

Emmanuel-Thomas, a father of two, signed a professional contract at Arsenal in 2008, 10 years after first joining the club at academy level. In a three-year stint, he managed just five first-team appearances, and only one in the , amid loan spells at Blackpool, Doncaster, and .

He went on to play for a string of clubs in England and also played in Thailand and India. He signed for Greenock after being released by National League side Kidderminster Harriers at the end of the 2023/24 season.