Ex-Arsenal player jailed for drug smuggling plot

Former Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.[Getty Images]

Former Arsenal player Jay Emmanuel-Thomas was jailed for four years on Thursday for his involvement in a £600,000 ($812,000) drug smuggling plot.

The 34-year-old was arrested in September last year after officers seized roughly 60 kilograms of cannabis brought through London's Stansted Airport by two women he had recruited - his girlfriend and her friend - on a flight from the Thai capital Bangkok via Dubai.

An earlier hearing heard the women, who were found not guilty, believed they were importing gold.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to a smuggling charge, was sacked by Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton after his arrest.

His lawyer conceded the father-of-two had made a "catastrophic error of judgment" after falling on financial hard times.

A highly promising graduate of Arsenal's academy, Emmanuel-Thomas made five appearances for the Gunners before leaving the north London club in 2011.

The English player went on to feature for Ipswich, Bristol City, QPR and Aberdeen among a host of other clubs, including Thai side PTT Rayong.

Judge Alexander Mills said in imposing a four-year sentence: "It's through your own action that you will no longer be known for playing professional football.

"You will be known as a criminal. A professional footballer who threw it all away."