Footballer Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has admitted his involvement in a plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis from Thailand into the UK.

The 34-year-old striker who has now been sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton after his arrest last year.

The former Arsenal academy rising star changed his plea to guilty during a hearing on 7 May, which can now be reported after restrictions were lifted.

At Chelmsford Crown Court in Essex, Emmanuel-Thomas admitted fraudulent evasion of the prohibition on the importation of cannabis between 1 July 2024 and 2 September 2024 having previously denied the charges when asked to enter a plea in October last year.

The footballer, who has also played for Ipswich Town, Bristol City, Queens Park Rangers and Thai side PTT Rayong, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing later.

Emmanuel-Thomas, of Gourock in Inverclyde, was arrested by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers in September 2024 after the NCA seized an estimated £600,000 of the class B drug as it was being smuggled through London Stansted Airport on 2 September.

Border Force officers detected roughly 60kg (132lb) of the drug in two suitcases, which had arrived via a flight from Bangkok.

Co-defendants Rosie Rowland, 29, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, who both denied the charge, face no further action after prosecutors offered no evidence in their case.

Prosecutor David Josse KC said the pair maintained “they thought they were importing gold not cannabis”.

The NCA said it was believed the footballer was the intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and drug pushers in the UK.