Ex-Arsenal star Jay Emmanuel-Thomas denies role in £600k Stansted Airport drug smuggling plot
A FORMER Arsenal star has denied being behind a £600,000 Stansted Airport drug smuggling plot.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 33, was detained by National Crime Agency officers after the haul of cannabis was seized.
The former Arsenal star appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court today charged with importing Class B drugs.
He denied the charge and was remanded into custody ahead of a provisional trial in May next year.
The maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is up to 14 years in prison.
Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested in Inverclyde, Scotland, last month.
His contract with Scottish Championship team Greenock Morton was later “terminated with immediate effect”.
The NCA said the drugs were seized at Stansted Airport on September 2, with two women arrested and charged.
Border Force officers allegedly found 60kg of cannabis in two suitcases which that arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
Rosie Rowland, 28, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, also pleaded not guilty to the same charge today.
They were bailed ahead of a hearing scheduled for all three defendants on January 6.
Emmanuel-Thomas is a former England under-17 and under-19 international.
He began his career at Arsenal before playing for various clubs – including Ipswich Town, Bristol City, QPR, Livingston and Aberdeen.
The striker signed a six-month contract with Greenock Morton in July.
NCA senior investigating officer David Phillips said: “The NCA continues to work with partners like Border Force to target those involved in drug smuggling – that includes both the couriers and the organisers.
“We would appeal to anyone who is approached to engage in any kind of smuggling to think very carefully about the likely consequences of their actions and the potentially life-changing risks they will be taking.”