Once celebrated for his skills on the pitch, former Crystal Palace defender Michael Boateng is now making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The 34-year-old has been sentenced to 14 years in prison after police found nearly £2.36 million worth of crystal meth in his possession — one of the largest seizures of the drug ever recorded in the UK.

Boateng’s downfall began long before the dramatic Valentine’s Day 2024 raid that sealed his fate. The former footballer, who once played for Crystal Palace’s youth side and later for clubs like Bristol Rovers, Sutton United, and Newport County, had already faced brushes with the law. In 2014, he was jailed over match-fixing allegations and later banned from football for life.

According to court reports, his more recent troubles started in 2022 after police issued an Osman Warning — an official notice of a credible threat to his life. Defence lawyers claim this period of stress and estrangement from his family pushed him toward Class A drug use and small-scale dealing to fund his habit.

But things escalated fast. In September 2023, police caught Boateng with cocaine, MDMA, ketamine, and cash during a stop in South London. He was out on bail for that offence when, in February 2024, officers raided his Croydon home and found a Slazenger sports bag containing 19.7kg of crystal meth. CCTV footage showed him carrying the bag into the property days earlier.

Prosecutors argued Boateng held a “significant role” in a drug trafficking network, trusted with huge quantities of drugs worth millions on the streets. The judge, Daniel Flahive, agreed, stating the scale and seriousness of the crime left no room for a lighter sentence.

Boateng will now serve 14 years behind bars, followed by a period on licence with strict conditions. It’s a grim fall from grace for a man who once dreamed of Premier League glory — a cautionary tale of how quickly life can spiral from promise to prison.