Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport

English footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been charged in connection with an attempt to smuggle cannabis with an estimated value of £600,000 ($800,000) through a British airport, UK police said Thursday.

The 33-year-old forward, who plays for Scottish second-tier side Greenock Morton, was arrested by National Crime Agency officers in Gourock, near Glasgow, on Wednesday.

The much-travelled Emmanuel-Thomas, a former England youth international who has also played for Arsenal, Ipswich and Aberdeen, was remanded in custody ahead of an expected court appearance on Thursday.

The NCA, which investigates serious and organised crime, seized the drugs at Stansted Airport, in southeast England, earlier this month.

Border Force officers detected about 60 kilograms of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok.

London-born Emmanuel-Thomas is expected to appear before magistrates in the northern English city of Carlisle on Thursday, accused of importing class B drugs.

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.”

The NCA issued a warning to travellers arriving in Britain from Thailand, Canada and the United States that they face jail sentences if caught attempting to bring cannabis into the country, after a huge surge in arrests.

So far this year, the agency says the amount of cannabis seized is more than three times that of 2023.

The NCA also said drug couriers often report being told by their superiors they only risk a fine if caught, when in reality the maximum sentence for smuggling cannabis into the UK is 14 years behind bars.

A spokesman for Greenock Morton declined to comment.