Former Arsenal Player Arrested Over £600K Cannabis Smuggling from Thailand

[webfact]

The cannabis seized at Stansted Airport. Picture courtesy: NCA via ESSEX Live

 

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, once a promising talent for Arsenal, finds himself in serious legal trouble after being arrested for attempting to smuggle cannabis worth approximately £600,000 (around $800,000) via a British airport.

 

The 33-year-old footballer, currently playing for Scottish second-tier team Greenock Morton, was apprehended at his residence near Glasgow on Wednesday morning. The National Crime Agency (NCA) reported that Emmanuel-Thomas was then taken to Carlisle in northern England for questioning.

 

Emmanuel-Thomas' career began at Arsenal, where he made five appearances, including a notable appearance in a Champions League match against Shakhtar Donetsk in November 2010. He later played for numerous clubs, including Ipswich, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers, and Aberdeen, as well as a stint in Thailand with PTT Rayong.

The situation unraveled when customs officers discovered around 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of cannabis hidden in two suitcases at Stansted Airport, arriving on a flight from Bangkok on 2nd September. Two women were initially arrested at the scene.

 

Former Arsenal striker Emmanuel-Thomas. Picture courtesy: instagram officialjet10 via Daily Mail

 

Emmanuel-Thomas now faces charges of importing class B drugs into the United Kingdom. This offence carries a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment under UK law.

 

This incident comes shortly after the NCA had issued warnings to travellers about bringing cannabis into the UK from countries like Thailand, Canada, and the US, where cannabis laws are more lenient. The strict UK legislation aims to curb the illegal drug trade and prevent smuggling operations.

 

Sources: Agencies

 

-- 2024-09-20

 

 

[thesetat2013]

The Op fails to show the link between the drugs at the airport and the man they arrested. Instead it says 2 women were arrested. So were they mules carrying his drugs? Poor sod can play now against people who will hurt him just to score a point while playing in prison. haha... Why people resort to smuggle drugs or test the security of a countries airports? 

[hotchilli]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

The situation unraveled when customs officers discovered around 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of cannabis hidden in two suitcases at Stansted Airport, arriving on a flight from Bangkok on 2nd September. Two women were initially arrested at the scene.

I wonder how THailand missed those drugs on the flight?

[Iron Tongue]

It was just for personal use.

 

Cops are just picking on another black celebrity!

[Kwausie]

Some people never learn 

[Yagoda]

So I guess when I show up at Heathrow from the USA with my dreadlocks and Grateful Dead shirt they're going to make me bend over huh

[J Branche]

130 lbs 2 suitcases no wonder it was found.  Seen some of the YouTube videos they usually tell the people either very little or that it's okay, they paid off the people at the airport.

 

[Irish star]

3 hours ago, Yagoda said:

So I guess when I show up at Heathrow from the USA with my dreadlocks and Grateful Dead shirt they're going to make me bend over huh

Absolutely no one needs to see that display of goods ffs , That True Love Heart Trump Tattoo would horrify them 

Edited September 21 by Irish star

[Sydebolle]

In all fairness, Thailand has legalized cannabis for medical purposes some time ago and the next thing you saw is cannabis shops literally everywhere. Some feared "medical" trips to Thailand by all those nationalities coming from countries, where cannabis remains illegal. 

Some 2 - 3 years into the modus operandi here in Thailand, I can say that 80% of the cannabis shops disappeared again as the market got saturated pretty quick. I also cannot see an increase of cannabis users. Given the fact, that the term "medical use only" is interpreted rather loosely, nothing really changed. 

So I consider the move as a very positive step in the right direction; it decriminalized the business, the government gets its share of taxes (or not, but that is another story) while the crime rate etc. did not move an inch.

Well, well, never enough it seems. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas arrived from Bangkok with 60kgs of cannabis and I seriously wonder, what did he really expect when getting off the plane in Scotland. 

Scottish liquids are banned in most islamic countries and cannabis is banned in Scotland; make up your mind what you want to do where .......... 
 

[FritsSikkink]

48 minutes ago, Sydebolle said:

Well, well, never enough it seems. Jay Emmanuel-Thomas arrived from Bangkok with 60kgs of cannabis and I seriously wonder, what did he really expect when getting off the plane in Scotland. 
 

Bla bla bla, he didn't arrive in Scotland with 60 kg of cannabis. 2 women were arrested when they did.

[Dave0206]

Arsenal to greenock morton that must pay well ?

Obviously finding it difficult to adjust his want to be lifestyle to greenock pay 🙄 

Looks like he will perhaps get free board and lodgings for a while 

[Sydebolle]

1 hour ago, FritsSikkink said:

Bla bla bla, he didn't arrive in Scotland with 60 kg of cannabis. 2 women were arrested when they did.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce81e2zq0jjo was the source of the 60kgs, his arrest in Scotland and the rest. There are no flights from Bangkok nonstop to any Scottish airport and hence he landed in Stansted. 

Anything else you want to bla, bla, bla me with? 

[PETERTHEEATER]

7 hours ago, thesetat2013 said:

The Op fails to show the link between the drugs at the airport and the man they arrested. Instead it says 2 women were arrested. So were they mules carrying his drugs? Poor sod can play now against people who will hurt him just to score a point while playing in prison. haha... Why people resort to smuggle drugs or test the security of a countries airports? 

Judging from the OP image the bags contain bean sprouts.😀 Luckily it was not flour.😋

[PETERTHEEATER]

7 hours ago, hotchilli said:

I wonder how THailand missed those drugs on the flight?

The sniffer dog was at the vets that day.😀

[PETERTHEEATER]

1 hour ago, Dave0206 said:

Arsenal to greenock morton that must pay well ?

Obviously finding it difficult to adjust his want to be lifestyle to greenock pay 🙄 

Looks like he will perhaps get free board and lodgings for a while 

One 'own goal' too many.....

[hotchilli]

15 minutes ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The sniffer dog was at the vets that day.😀

Treatment for addiction.

[FriscoKid]

7 hours ago, Yagoda said:

So I guess when I show up at Heathrow from the USA with my dreadlocks and Grateful Dead shirt they're going to make me bend over huh

 

But you like to bend over for men anyway I thought?

[FriscoKid]

 

Well packaged at least. 3-4 layers of plastic. Probably enough to get past most sniffer dogs. I guess it was a random baggage check at the airport in the UK that found it. It is surprising though that it made it out of Thailand like that.

 

[Yagoda]

3 minutes ago, FriscoKid said:

 

But you like to bend over for men anyway I thought?

Absolutely. You must be a Democrat.

[Liverpool Lou]

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Bla bla bla, he didn't arrive in Scotland with 60 kg of cannabis. 2 women were arrested when they did.

...one of them his partner.

[BritScot]

If all the evidence is he arranged the flights for his partner then that's very weak because how many men arrange/book their partners/wives travel arrangements and in most cases pay for said travel? I know I do. Unless this guy has been really stupid with his money, he will most likely still be well healed. However two women from Thailand could quite easily come up with a cunning plan!!!

[stoner]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

The situation unraveled when customs officers discovered around 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of cannabis hidden in two suitcases

 

60 kilos hidden eh ? 

[stoner]

2 hours ago, FriscoKid said:

Well packaged at least. 3-4 layers of plastic. Probably enough to get past most sniffer dogs.

 

wrong. 

[cowellandrew]

4 hours ago, PETERTHEEATER said:

The sniffer dog was at the vets that day.😀

My wife has worked out the best time to get her shipment of half a ton of thai vegetables etc through the uk airports is at 06:00 Sunday 

As the dogs aren't early risers on the weekends!

😁😳👮‍♂️

Edited September 21 by cowellandrew
Correction

[Iron Tongue]

11 hours ago, FriscoKid said:

 

Well packaged at least. 3-4 layers of plastic. Probably enough to get past most sniffer dogs. I guess it was a random baggage check at the airport in the UK that found it. It is surprising though that it made it out of Thailand like that.

 

You go on and start a lucrative career in drug smuggling if you believe that.

Dogs can smell that easily as they smell particles in the ppm range.  They could have run those bags through several cycles in a dishwasher and trained dogs would still pick them out.

By the looks of these bags, people could probably smell the resin inside those bags.

 

 

Edited September 21 by Iron Tongue

[FritsSikkink]

18 hours ago, Sydebolle said:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce81e2zq0jjo was the source of the 60kgs, his arrest in Scotland and the rest. There are no flights from Bangkok nonstop to any Scottish airport and hence he landed in Stansted. 

Anything else you want to bla, bla, bla me with? 

Yes, try reading. Two women got caught with 60 kg. He didn't have any drugs on him.

Edited September 22 by FritsSikkink

[watchcat]

On 9/20/2024 at 2:46 PM, webfact said:

The situation unraveled when customs officers discovered around 60 kilograms (130 pounds) of cannabis hidden in two suitcases at Stansted Airport, arriving on a flight from Bangkok on 2nd September.

 

Does  Bankok not have sniffer dogs

[Hanuman2547]

Looks like he might be playing for a new team in front of a lot less fans in the near future.