Hyderabad: Ex-Arsenal footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been sacked by his club after £600,000 Of Cannabis was seized from him at Stansted airport. He is charged with an attempt to smuggle the cannabis.
The 33-year-old striker currently plays for Scottish club Greenock Morton the National Crime Agency (NCA) officers on Wednesday morning. Jay was taken into custody after being questioned by the officers.
“Greenock Morton FC can confirm that the contract of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been terminated with immediate effect. The club will be making no further comment on the matter,” Greenock Morton posted an official statement on their ‘X’ handle.
NCA seized around £600,000 of the class B drug from the footballer on September 2 and he was arrested for it. The border officers spotted around 60 kg of the drug in two suitcases which arrived on a flight from Bangkok, Thailand.
Two women aged 28 and 32 were also arrested and presented at the Chelmsford magistrates court. Both of them are expected to appear before the court on October 1 in the Chelmsford Crown Court. Emmanuel-Thomas has appeared in the Indian Super League (ISL) in the 2022-23 season. He had stints with Queens Park Rangers, Bristol City, Ipswich Town, and the Thai team PTT Rayong.
“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,” NCA senior investigating officer, David Phillips stated.
“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.”
