Former Arsenal player charged after £600,000 of cannabis seized at Stansted

A former Arsenal and Queens Park Rangers footballer has been charged in connection with an attempt to smuggle £600,000 of cannabis through Stansted airport.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers shortly after 8am on Wednesday in Gourock, Inverclyde. He currently plays for the Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton.

The 33-year-old striker, who had recently played for Livingston, Aberdeen and Kidderminster Harriers, was detained and questioned by officers, and has been remanded in custody before an expected court appearance on Thursday.

The arrest came after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through Stansted airport on 2 September. Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand.

Emmanuel-Thomas is expected to appear at Carlisle magistrates court on Thursday accused of importing class B drugs. Two women aged 28 and 32 were arrested and appeared at Chelmsford magistrates court. They were bailed to appear at Chelmsford crown court on 1 October.

Emmanuel-Thomas previously played for Jamshedpur FC as an overseas player in the 2022–23 Indian Super League. He also played for Ipswich Town from 2011 to 2013, Bristol City from 2013 to 2015 and the Thai team PTT Rayong in 2019. He signed his first professional contract with Arsenal in 2008, after playing for the club’s youth team from the age of eight, before moving to Ipswich Town in 2011.

David Phillips, an NCA senior investigating officer, 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.”

The NCA has recently warned people arriving into the UK from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge increase in arrests.

The agency says the amount of cannabis seized so far this year is more than three times that in 2023. The NCA also said drug couriers often reported being told by their superiors they risked only a fine if caught, when in reality the maximum sentence for smuggling cannabis into the UK is 14 years behind bars.