English footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, aged 33, has been charged in connection with an attempt to smuggle cannabis worth approximately £600,000 through a British airport, according to UK authorities on Thursday.
The forward, currently playing for Greenock Morton in Scotland’s second-tier league, was arrested by the National Crime Agency (NCA) in Gourock, near Glasgow, on Wednesday.
Emmanuel-Thomas, a former England youth international who has had stints at clubs including Arsenal, Ipswich Town, and Aberdeen, was remanded in custody and is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
The NCA, which targets serious and organized crime, revealed that the cannabis was seized earlier this month at Stansted Airport in southeast England. Border Force officers discovered around 60 kilograms of the drug hidden in two suitcases, which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok.
The London-born footballer is set to appear before magistrates in Carlisle, where he faces charges related to importing Class B drugs.
David Phillips, a senior investigating officer at the NCA, stated: “We continue to work closely with partners such as Border Force to tackle drug smuggling operations, targeting both the couriers and those orchestrating these crimes.”
The NCA has recently warned travelers from Thailand, Canada, and the United States of the significant legal risks involved in attempting to bring cannabis into the UK, as arrests for such offenses have surged. This year, the amount of cannabis seized by authorities is already more than three times that of 2023.
The agency further emphasized that drug couriers are often misled by their handlers, being told they face only minor penalties if caught. However, the maximum sentence for cannabis smuggling in the UK is 14 years in prison.
A spokesperson for Greenock Morton declined to comment on the matter.
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