English champion footballer arrested for drug smuggling worth $800,000

Former Arsenal striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been charged with drug smuggling, dailymail.co.uk reports. The 33-year-old footballer, who won the FA Youth Cup, was detained at Stansted Airport in London. Customs officers seized 600,000 pounds of marijuana ($800,000) from the athlete.

The Greenock Morton striker from Scotland's second-tier league, who joined the club earlier this summer, was arrested after UK Border Agency officers found the substance in several suitcases that arrived in the United Kingdom on a flight from Bangkok on September 2.

According to the National Crime Agency (NCA), about 60 kilograms of the drug were found in two suitcases. However, prosecutors later said that four suitcases were seized.

NCA officers subsequently arrested the footballer, who Arsene Wenger once described as a man of "outstanding quality."

The father of two was taken to Carlisle for questioning. Journalists contacted Greenock Morton, but the club did not comment on the incident.

Emmanuel-Thomas is a former Arsenal player who has played 5 matches for the club. During his career, he also played for Bristol City, Ipswich, and other clubs.

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