Jay Emmanuel-Thomas pleads guilty to role in £600,000 drug smuggling plot

The 33-year-old was detained just after 8am today (Wednesday 18 September) in Gourock, Inverclyde, in an operation supported by officers from Police Scotland.

He has now been taken to Carlisle to be questioned.

It follows the arrest of two women aged 28 and 32 at Stansted on 2 September, after Border Force officers detected around 60 kilos of the drug in two suitcases which had arrived on a flight from Bangkok.

After being questioned by the NCA both were charged with drug importation offences. They appeared before Chelmsford Magistrates and were bailed to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 1 October.

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.”

In August the National Crime Agency issued a warning to travellers 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 upsurge in arrests.

The amount of cannabis seized so far in 2024 is already over three times more than in the whole of 2023.

People travelling with the drugs as couriers reported being told by their recruiters that they were only risking a fine if caught. However, the maximum sentence for cannabis importation in the UK is up to 14 years in prison.

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was a product of the Arsenal Academy, and although he won trophies with the youth team and played regularly for the reserves, he struggled to win a regular place in the first team and was sent out on loan to several lower-division clubs.

In 2011, he departed the Gunners, to join Ipswich Town of the Championship, before then heading to Bristol City and also endured a two-year spell at Queens Park Rangers, during which he was again loaned out.

In 2019 he signed for Thailand based club PTT Rayong, but the years that followed, played for Livingston  and Aberdeen.

After having his contract terminated with the latter, he made the move to Jamshedpur as one of their designated overseas players for the 2022–23 Indian Super League season, before leaving the club in June 2023 and after an unsuccessful trial with Inverness Caledonian Thistle in October 2023, Emmanuel-Thomas returned to England with National League outfit Kidderminster Harriers in February 2024.

After being released by Kidderminster, he then trained with Scottish side Greenock Morton in July 2024, and subsequently signed a six-month contract with them.

HIS CAREER:

Youth
1998–2008 – Arsenal

Senior
2008–2011 – Arsenal – 5 gams (0 goals)
2009 → Blackpool (loan) – 11 games (1 goal)
2010 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) – 14 games (5 goals)
2011 → Cardiff City (loan) – 16 games (2 goals)
2011–2013 – Ipswich Town – 76 games (9 goals)
2013–2015 – Bristol City – 103 games (33 goals)
2015–2018 – Queens Park Rangers – 15 games (5 goals)
2016 → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) – 4 games (0 goals)
2016–2017 → Gillingham (loan) – 35 games (10 goals)
2019 – PTT Rayong – 12 games (1 goal)
2020–2021 – Livingston – 31 games (9 goals)
2021–2022 – Aberdeen – 24 games (1 goal)
2022–2023 – Jamshedpur – 22 games (2 goals)
2024 – Kidderminster Harriers
2024– Greenock Morton

International
2007–2008 – England U17 – 5 games (0 goals)
2008–2009 – England U19 – 2 games (0 goals)

Honours

Arsenal Youth
FA Youth Cup: 2008–09
Premier Academy League: 2008–09

Bristol City
 League One: 2014–15
Football League Trophy: 2014–15

Livingston
Scottish League Cup runner-up: 2020–21

Individual
PFA League One Player of the Month: January 2015