Two men involved with Bristol's most dangerous drug dealing network have been jailed indefinitely for public protection.

Already in the past two years, 17 men and one woman have been jailed for a total of more than 100 years after being busted by Avon and Somerset police's Atrium drug crime unit.

But the details of their criminality were kept secret by court orders imposed to prevent related trials being compromised.

Last month, after 20 hours of deliberation at Bristol Crown Court, a jury found former Olympic judo competitor James Waithe guilty of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

He had already been found guilty of conspiring with four other men to flood the streets with cocaine from the gang's base at a flat he owned in Highridge Green.

It marked the end of the final trial in a series of cases which could only recently be made public, lifting the lid on the city's most prolific drug networks.

The five men, convicted after a case code named Operation Malbec by police, join the 18 other criminals already in jail.

They are former school teacher Waithe, 47; Craig Rodel, 46, of Wexford Road, Knowle; Grant Richmond, 29, of Long Cross, Lawrence Weston; Luke Downes, 22, of Pevensey Walk, Knowle, and Robert Brooks, 63, of no fixed address.

Waithe will only be considered for release once he has served nine years, court was told; while Broooks can only be considered for release after he has served seven years in prison.

The gang's Class A drugs factory was capable of making as much as £1 million per week and it could have raked in £50 million in total.

They were armed with three military-issue stun grenades, four rifles, five handguns, a shotgun and ammunition, which were used to protect their empire. Waithe, Rodel, Downes and Brooks have firearms offences to their names as well.

Detective Superintendent Arthur Lewis, of Avon and Somerset police, said: "These were very serious offences. The investigations, which have gone on for nearly three years, have been complex and difficult."

DS Lewis believes the lengthy jail sentences passed by the courts will make a massive difference in the fight against drug dealing.

As previously reported, Rodel and his gang were caught when police were called to a burglary in June last year at flat 7, 79 Highridge Green. Debt-collector Waithe, who competed for Barbados in judo at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and represented England in the Commonwealth Games, denied knowing there were drugs and weapons in the flat he rented to Rodel for £2,000 per week.

Waithe was cleared of six firearms offences but found guilty of possessing firearms with intent to endanger life.

Unusually, key evidence in the trial of Waithe and Brooks was given by Richmond, who turned prosecution witness.

Rodel, the ringleader of the enterprise that took over the drugs market when another gang run by the Pearce family were jailed in 2007, is also believed to have been a police informer in the past.