Former Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to being involved in a plot to smuggle an estimated £600,000 worth of cannabis.

The 34-year-old, who had been playing for Greenock Morton, was detained by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in September after 60 kilograms of drugs were detected in suitcases which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok to Stansted Airport on September 2. Scottish Championship club Greenock terminated his contract after his charge.

Emmanuel-Thomas denied his involvement in importing class B drugs at a hearing at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court in September but changed his plea to guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis, between July 1 2024 and September 2, 2024.

His arrest followed the arrest of Rosie Rowland, 33, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 29, at Stansted. Charges against the pair were dropped by the prosecution. They denied their involvement at an earlier hearing. They wept as they were allowed to leave the dock.

Prosecutor David Josse KC said the investigation into their involvement was discontinued after analysis of Emmanuel-Thomas’s mobile phone.

“They thought they were importing gold, not cannabis,” the prosecutor told the court. Emmanuel-Thomas, who appeared at court via video link from HMP Chelmsford, will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is 14 years in prison.

Emmanuel-Thomas, an Arsenal youth product, captained the club’s FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2009. After one Premier League appearance for Arsenal, he went on to play for a range of clubs, including Ipswich Town and Bristol City before moving to play in Scotland, Thailand and India. He also played for England at youth level.

(Top image: Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)