James Waithe Explained

James Waithe (born 30 December 1961) is a former judoka who represented Barbados at the 1988 Summer Olympics,^[1] and England at the 2006 Commonwealth Judo Championships.He was sensei at the University of Bristol Judo club 2001.

In November 2009, Waithe was convicted of drugs offences in Bristol, England.^[2] He was reportedly the enforcer and debt collector for drug lord Craig Rodel, whose gang turned in over £50 million a year from trafficking cocaine, MDMA, heroin and firearms. In one incident Waithe and an associate tied a man to a chair, beat him with nunchuks, stuck a cigarette in his ear and put his hands in a toaster.^[3] Police were alerted to the gang's operations after a burglary was called into a flat owned by Waithe, where police discovered an 'industrial-scale' cocaine factory.^[4]

Notes and References

1. Web site: James Waithe . 27 November 2009 . Sports Reference . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091027041526/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/wa/james-waithe-1.html . 27 October 2009 .
2. Web site: Cocaine gang Olympic star guilty. 27 November 2009. 26 November 2009. BBC News.
3. News: Judo Olympian was cocaine gang's enforcer, court told. Telegraph. 26 October 2009.
4. News: £1m-a-week cocaine factory found by accident, court told. Guardian. 22 October 2009.