A professional footballer has admitted his involvement in a plot to smuggle £600,000 worth of drugs from Thailand into the UK.
Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, 34, was arrested after 60kg (9.44st) of cannabis was found in suitcases arriving at London Stansted Airport, Essex, on 2 September.
He was sacked by Scottish club Greenock Morton after being charged, having previously played for Aberdeen, Ipswich Town, Bristol City and England at youth level.
The father-of-two will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court at a later date.
Emmanuel-Thomas pleaded guilty to the offence in May. Reporting restrictions on the case were lifted on Wednesday.
Prosecutor David Josse KC said it followed a “very thorough investigation” by the National Crime Agency.
Charges against Rosie Rowland, 28, and Yasmin Piotrowska, 33, had been dropped by the prosecution, he told the court.
They wept as they were allowed to leave the dock, having denied importing cannabis between 1 July and 2 September at earlier hearings.
Mr Josse said the investigation into their involvement was discontinued after analysis of Emmanuel-Thomas’s mobile phone.
“They thought they were importing gold, not cannabis,” the prosecutor said.