Ex-Premier League player Ronnie Stam faces 13 years in prison after being accused of smuggling two tonnes of cocaine.
The 40 year old who spent three seasons with Wigan Athletic, between 2010 and 2013 – making 73 appearances, has been accused of smuggling two tonnes of cocaine into the Netherlands, with a street value estimated at £48 million, as well as money laundering to the value of more than £2million.
The Dutch public prosecutor has requested a 13-year prison sentence and a fine of €1.7 million for his alleged role in the drug trafficking operation.
The allegations:
– Import of 20 kilos of cocaine in February 2020
– Preparations for the import of 893 kilos of cocaine from Costa Rica in December 2020
– Preparing for the import of 700 kilos of cocaine from Chile in February and March 2021
– Trade in 600 kilos of cocaine in February 2021
– Money laundering of 2,600,000 euros in 2020 and 2021
– Preparing for export of 4 kilos of cocaine and 5 kilos of MDMA from late 2023 to mid-2024
– Possession of 18 liters of laughing gas by mid-2024
🚨𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 Former Premier League star Ronnie Stam is facing 13-years in jail – after being accused of smuggling two tonnes of cocaine.
The ex-Wigan defender could also be fined up to £1.5M if found guilty of trafficking the drugs, with a street value of £48m.
THREAD 🧵 pic.twitter.com/ptJleut1nk
— Topskills Sports UK (@topskillsportuk) June 11, 2025
Ronnie Stam scoring his only goal in 3 years at Wigan against Bolton at the Reebok then lapping the stadium and clutching the badge isn’t talked about enough. #WAFC pic.twitter.com/uDJ4MjxWdq
— Tics Talk (@TicsTalk) October 12, 2021
He played in their FA Cup-winning campaign of 2013, however wasn’t part of final against Manchester City, then left for Standard Liege that year.
The now-retired player appeared in a Breda court on Tuesday alongside his brother Rudi, 43, with trial hearing how that the brothers transported cocaine from South America to the Netherlands in 2020 and 2021.
Prosecutors allege that Ronnie Stam and his brother Rudi were involved in drug trafficking, with evidence found in their encrypted phone chats, including photos of cocaine blocks.
The prosecutor seeks a prison term for Stam until 2038 and a €1.7m fine, while Rudi faces over six years in jail and the same fine if convicted.
Stam admits to a 20-kilo cocaine shipment to Germany in 2020 but denies further drug trade involvement, claiming his wealth is from his football career.
The former FC Twente player who won the Dutch title in 2010 and later joined Wigan for £2m, Stam has been in custody since his arrest in June 2024.
Having spent the last few months in custody – due to being a flight risk – he was back in court this week to plead his case.
He become emotional – as reported by Dutch publication omroepbrabant.nl – saying: “My children had to cry about it. The youngest thinks he will never see me again and the oldest thinks I will miss his entire football career.”
Ronnie insisted he was willing to import 20 kilos of cocaine, but participated in only one kilo.
“It was stupid to go along with those guys,” he said. “But I had nothing to do with those big batches of cocaine and nothing to do with setting up lines. That was them and they kept me out of it.”
He claimed 13 years in prison was ‘more than for the biggest drug criminals… and that is only because this is a media case, because I was good at football’.
Stam’s lawyer added: “There was no money found, no cocaine, no firearm, no police uniforms, nothing. Only some conversations and they are not even complete.”
Describing Stam’s wealth, the lawyer added: “Ronnie earned millions playing football and also received a lot of cash. He also lent out five hundred thousand and that came back partly in cash.
“He is not a professional criminal. He wants to make something of his life. He does deserve a punishment, but not that much. You don’t get six years for just those 20 kilos. Not by a long shot.”
Stam’s brother Rudi has also charged but is said to have fled to Dubai.
“Rudi has chosen for his children,” claimed a lawyer. “Rudi is not Tony Montana or Pablo Escobar.”
A verdict is due on the 12th of August.
Stam said he won’t be in court to learn his fate.
“Those rides in the van from prison to court are hell,” he said, and ‘wished the judges and the public prosecutor a nice holiday and awaits the verdict in his cell in Middelburg’.
Meanwhile, ex-EFL player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was, last Thursday, jailed for four years for his involvement in a £600,000 drug smuggling plot after a court heard his financial difficulties after a period out of contract led to a “catastrophic error of judgment”.
He was arrested last September during a period playing for Greenock Morton, after National Crime Agency officers seized approximately 60kg of cannabis at Stansted Airport.
The drugs were found in two suitcases brought from Bangkok, Thailand, via Dubai by two women, Yasmin Piotrowska (his girlfriend) and her friend Rosie Rowland, who believed they were importing gold.
Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty to fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on cannabis importation between July 1st and September 2nd, 2024, at Chelmsford Crown Court.
The 34 year old – also a product of the Arsenal academy and also had spells at Ipswich, Bristol City, QPR, Gillingham and Aberdeen – will serve a minimum of 19 months in custody.
He said it “became apparent this defendant, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, had been involved in their recruitment to travel to Thailand”.
He noted that the footballer “had played a few games, 11 in total, for a club in Thailand”.
Former Arsenal striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been jailed for four years after Border Force found 60kg of cannabis in luggage carried by two women he recruited.
An @NCA_UK investigation revealed he orchestrated the smuggling of £600k worth of cannabis from Thailand into the UK. pic.twitter.com/Y1B1OjCuaC
— Home Office (@ukhomeoffice) June 9, 2025
The barrister said JET had “some awareness and understanding of the scale of the operation” and was acting in an “operational management function” in the plot, while also pointing out the defendant’s “relationship with Ms Piotrowska” when describing the recruitment of the two women.
Alex Rose, for Emmanuel-Thomas, said: “The financial gain in this case for Mr Emmanuel-Thomas was £5,000.”
He said the defendant was a father of two and had made a “catastrophic error of judgment” and a “period of being out of contract led to very significant financial hard times” and he “succumbed to temptation”.
“Although he had previously experienced periods of being in between contracts or – putting it another way – being unemployed as a footballer, they had largely been on the back of fairly lucrative long-term contracts,” said Mr Rose.
He said the “situation was rather different in the background to this”.
“Having been out of contract prior to signing for Greenock Morton, he had a brief contract with Kidderminster Harriers but that was very much a short-term contract, almost to try to assist someone he had a good relationship with,” he said.
Rose continued: “His football career is finished and that’s something he has brought entirely on himself.
“It’s a devastating blow for somebody who had such promise and such an impressive football career.”
Judge Alexander Mills, sentencing Emmanuel-Thomas, said: “It’s through your own action that you will no longer be known for playing professional football.
“You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away.”
The judge said Emmanuel-Thomas had played five games for Greenock Morton and was on a £600 per week contract at the time of the incident.
The defendant was accused of orchestrating a scheme to import cannabis by recruiting his girlfriend and her friend, disguising the operation as a luxurious holiday in Thailand, complete with business class flights and hotel accommodations.
He discussed maximizing their time on Ko Samui. During sentencing, he remained expressionless and acknowledged the public gallery as he was taken to the cells.
The two women involved, Ms. Piotrowska and Ms. Rowland, denied the charges, claiming they believed they were importing gold, not cannabis.
Prosecutors dropped the case against them, and not guilty verdicts were recorded.
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