Things don’t pan out for everyone in sports, even professional athletes.
According to ESPN, British soccer player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas has been charged with attempting to bring £600,000 ($800,000) through an airport in Britain.
Emmanuel-Thomas started his career at Arsenal, playing five games for the side, including in the Champions League in 2010. He would go on to play for the Ipswich, Bristol City, and Queens Park Rangers in England, Aberdeen in Scotland, and in Thailand for PTT Rayong. He is currently playing for Greenock Morton in Scotland.
Emmanuel-Thomas was arrested at his home on Wednesday.
Customs officers detected about 130 pounds of cannabis in two suitcases at Stansted airport that came in on a flight from Bangkok on September 2, resulting in the arrests of two women.
Emmanuel-Thomas is set for a court appearance on Thursday, facing accusations of importing class B drugs.
Emmanuel-Thomas really should’ve known better than to try this. The National Crime Agency warned travelers coming in from the United States, Canada and Thailand that they will face sentencing if they’re caught trying to smuggle cannabis into the United Kingdom. The maximum sentence for drug smuggling is 14 years.
Hopefully, Emmanuel-Thomas learns from this and is able to leave this life behind so he can focus on his playing career.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.