Former Arsenal footballer admits trying to smuggle £600k of cannabis into Britain after 60kg found in suitcases at London airport
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A former Arsenal footballer has admitted trying to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis into the UK in suitcases.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, was arrested after 60kg of cannabis was found after two women arrived at Stanstead Airport in Essex on September 2.
The cannabis had arrived on a flight from Bangkok, in Thailand, in suitcases belonging to his girlfriend and a friend.
Emmanuel-Thomas told the court he felt 'sorry' for using Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, in the drugs plot.
Piotrowska and her friend Rosie Rowland, 29, were offered all expenses paid trips to Thailand where the weed was collected and stashed in suitcases.
The women had two suitcases each, which were searched, and a total of 60kg of cannabis - 15kg in each bag - was recovered.
Charges against the women were dropped after they told officers they believed they were importing gold.
Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between July 1 2024 and September 2 2024.
He had previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year.
He was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton after he was charged with the offences.
The father-of-two will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court at a later date.
Charges against Rosie Rowland, 28, of Chelmsford, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, of northwest London, were dropped by the prosecution.
Prosecutor David Josse KC said that following phone analysis, it was clear the pair had thought they were importing gold, not drugs.
Judge Christopher Morgan directed that not guilty verdicts be recorded in the case of Rowland and Piotrowska and they walked free from the dock.
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 for this hearing to be set administratively.
Emmanuel-Thomas has previously played for Aberdeen, Ipswich Town, Bristol City and England at youth level.
The maximum sentence for smuggling cannabis is 14 years in prison.
