A professional footballer has denied involvement in an alleged plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of drugs from Thailand into the UK.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 33, is accused of being connected to the discovery of 60kg (9.44 stone) of cannabis at London Stansted Airport in Essex on 2 September.
Rosie Rowland, 28, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, also pleaded not guilty to importing the Class B drug between 1 July and 2 September during a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Judge Christopher Morgan indicated that the trial for the defendants could last up to seven days in May. Mr. Emmanuel-Thomas, a former striker for Aberdeen, Queens Park Rangers, and Arsenal, appeared via video link from HMP Durham.
Previously, he played for Ipswich Town between 2011 and 2013 and joined Thai-based team PTT Rayong in 2019.
The Scottish club Greenock Morton FC terminated his contract after his arrest on 18 September at his home on Cardwell Road in Gourock, near Glasgow, following a joint investigation by Police Scotland and the National Crime Agency.
Ms. Piotrowska, from Purves Road in northwest London, was visibly emotional in the dock as the charges were read, alongside Ms. Rowland, of Southend Road, Chelmsford.
Both women were also arrested following the drug seizure, the court previously heard.
It was alleged that they arrived at Stansted Airport after traveling in business class from Bangkok via Dubai. Authorities reportedly seized four suitcases containing vacuum-packed cannabis spread among them.
Judge Morgan remanded Mr. Emmanuel-Thomas in custody, while Ms. Rowland and Ms. Piotrowska were released on bail until their next hearing on 6 January 2025.