A former Olympic judo star from Barbados has been jailed for at least nine years for his role as an enforcer in a major drug gang in England.

47-year-old James Waithe worked as an aggressive debt collector for the gang, which made up to 1.7-million dollars a week from cocaine sales.

He was convicted last month of conspiracy to supply cocaine and possessing a firearm, and was jailed indefinitely on Monday at Bristol Crown Court in southwest England.

Prosecutors claimed he once tied a man to a chair, beat him with nunchuks, put out cigarettes in his ears and put his hands into a toaster.

AFP reports that Waithe competed for Barbados in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and had represented England in Commonwealth competitions.

Judge Simon Darwall-Smith gave him a nominal sentence of 18 years, meaning he can be considered for release after nine - but he will only be freed when experts deem he is no longer a public threat.