The father-of-two will be sentenced at a later date…the maximum sentence for cannabis importation is 14 years imprisonment.
Former Arsenal striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has pleaded guilty to participating in a plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis into the UK.
The 34-year-old appeared via video link from prison at Chelmsford Crown Court, where he admitted involvement after 60kg of the drug was discovered in suitcases arriving from Bangkok via Dubai at London Stansted Airport on 2 September.
Emmanuel-Thomas, who played for several clubs including Ipswich Town and Aberdeen, was arrested on 18 September and later sacked by Scottish side Greenock Morton.
Prosecutor David Josse KC called it a “very thorough investigation” by the National Crime Agency.
Charges against co-accused Rosie Rowland, 28, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, were dropped after evidence from Emmanuel-Thomas’s phone suggested they were unaware of the true contents.
“They thought they were importing gold, not cannabis,” Josse told the court.
The father-of-two will be sentenced at a later date. The maximum sentence for cannabis importation is 14 years imprisonment.