Ex-Greenock Morton player sent girlfriend to Thailand to smuggle drugs she thought was gold
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas acted as an intermediary between drug suppliers in Thailand and pushers in the UK, an investigation revealed.
An ex-Greenock Morton player sent his girlfriend and her friend on a drug smuggling trip to Thailand to bring £600,000 worth of cannabis into the UK.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, who played for the club last year until his arrest, admitted to recruiting Yasmin Piotrowska and Rosie Rowland to carry the drugs.
The pair were stopped and searched at London Stansted Airport on September 2, 2024, and told Border Force officers they believed they were transporting gold.
Thomas' girlfriend Piotrowska, 33, and Rowland, 29, were each carrying two suitcases, which were searched to reveal a total of 60kg of cannabis - 15kg in each case.
They were later charged with smuggling cannabis, Glasgow Live reports. Following their arrest, Thomas said: "I just feel sorry for the girls."
However, Thomas, from Gourock, Inverclyde pleaded guilty to orchestrating the smuggling operation in an appearance at Chelmsford Crown Court earlier this month.
The two women were acquitted after the crown offered no evidence against either of them.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said Thomas was an intermediary between suppliers in Thailand and drug pushers in the UK.
Their investigation revealed that the women had made an almost identical journey in July 2024 with Thomas' encouragement, with all expenses paid and a promised reward of £2,500.
Thomas had previously played for Thai club PTT Rayong in 2019. He signed for Morton last July, but was sacked following his arrest on September 18.
David Philips, NCA senior investigating officer, said: "Organised crime groups make significant profits by trafficking and selling perceived high-quality cannabis legally grown in the US, Canada and Thailand illegally in the UK.
" Organised criminals like Thomas can be very persuasive and offer payment to couriers. But the risk of getting caught is very high and it simply isn't worth it."
Thomas is due to be sentenced at a later date.
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