A former player at Arsenal FC, Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, has been denied bail after he was charged with importing drugs following ‘£600,000 of cannabis’ being seized at Stansted Airport in London.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas a Greenock Morton striker, 33, who joined the club earlier this summer on a free transfer, was arrested at 8am Wednesday morning, September 18, after UK Border Force officials found the substance inside several suitcases which had arrived in the United Kingdom on a flight from Bangkok on September 2.
Based on to the information from National Crime Agency (NCA) around 60 kilograms of the drug were found in two suitcases.
NCA officers later detained the footballer and has since been charged with importing class B drugs.
The young father-of-two was transported to Carlisle to be interrogated and will appear in front of Deputy District Judge Steven Jonas at the city’s magistrates’ court on Thursday.
No plea was entered to the charge when it was read to him by the court legal advisor on the instruction of his lawyer, Nathaniel Gadsby.
Mr Gadsby said: ‘He [Emmanuel-Thomas] does strenuously deny any involvement in any plan to import drugs into the UK. He is eager to clear his name at trial.’
Two women, aged 28 and 32 had also been arrested at Stansted Airport, according to the NCA, and were also charged with drug importation offences.
Both were issued bail after appearing before Chelmsford Magistrates Court and are due to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on October 1.
Senior Investigating Officer for the NCA, 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 organizers.
‘We would plead 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.’