Ex Arsenal striker was pot smuggler

A former Arsenal striker who recruited his girlfriend to smuggle £600,000 worth of cannabis into the UK is facing years in jail.

Jay Thomas, 34, said he felt ‘sorry’ for using Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, in the drugs plot.

Piotrowska and her friend Rosie Rowland, 29, were offered all expenses paid trips to Thailand where the weed was collected and stashed in suitcases.

They were stopped by Border Force officers at Stansted Airport after landing on a flight from Bangkok on September 2.

The women had two suitcases each, which were searched, and a total of 60kg of cannabis – 15kg in each bag – was recovered.

But prosecutors offered no evidence against the women today (weds) after they said they believed they were transporting gold.

Thomas was arrested at his home in Gourock, near Glasgow, on September 18 last year and he admitted smuggling cannabis at Chelmsford Crown Court.

London-born Thomas was a youth player with Arsenal for ten years before he made one senior appearance for the Gunners in 2008.

Thomas, who played for PTT Rayong in Thailand in 2019, was playing for Greenock Morton FC in the Scottish Championship when he was arrested.

He had also played for Scottish giants Aberdeen as well as Livingston and Bristol City.

An investigation by the National Crime Agency revealed the women had made an almost identical all expenses paid trip to Thailand last July after they were promised £2,500 each.

Following his arrest he told officer: ‘I just feel sorry for the girls.’

Piotrowska, of Kensal Green, London, and Rowland, of Chelmsford, Essex, were charged with smuggling cannabis but the prosecution offered no evidence against them.

Thomas will be sentenced on a date to be fixed.

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.’