Footballer admits £600,000 drugs smuggling plot

Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has admitted his involvement in a plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis from Thailand into the UK.

The 34-year-old striker was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton after his arrest last year. The former Livingston, Aberdeen and Arsenal academy player changed his plea to guilty during a hearing on 7 May, which can now be reported after restrictions were lifted on Wednesday.

At Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex, Emmanuel-Thomas admitted fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between 1 July 2024 and 2 September 2024. He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year.

The footballer, who has also played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing at a later date. Emmanuel-Thomas, of Gourock in Inverclyde, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024.

It came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through London Stansted Airport on 2 September. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok.

Read more from Sky News:Man in court after footballer hit by seatEx-Ukrainian politician living abroad shot dead Co-defendants Rosie Rowland, 29, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case. Prosecutor David Josse KC said the pair maintained "they thought they were importing gold not cannabis".

The NCA said it was believed the footballer was the intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and drug pushers in the UK. David Philips, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the US, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK.

"Organised criminals like Emmanuel-Thomas can be very persuasive and offer payment to couriers. But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it." Emmanuel-Thomas appeared at Wednesday's hearing by video-link from Chelmsford Prison.

He was asked if he would like to appear at his sentencing in person or by video-link and he asked that it be in person, with the date of the hearing to be set administratively..