Bumbling boss of meth operation jailed

11kg of meth was tested and found to be 'extremely pure'. File photo / NZ Herald

The bumbling New Zealand boss of a Taiwan-based methamphetamine operation has been jailed for more than 11 years.

Shao-Hua Ho, 19, appeared in Auckland District Court this afternoon after previously admitting charges of importation and possession of more than $11 million of the class-A drug for supply.

The teenager came to Auckland and was in constant communication with those back home, who instructed him to pick up a "package" from Customs.

Ho needed a truck to pick up the 250kg wooden crate which contained five steels containers holding the P.

His job was to find a storage unit with an electricity outlet and use power tools to open the solid steel and extract the precious product.

However, the teen could not find anywhere suitable and his lack of English thwarted his search for somewhere else.

His bosses overseas had to send others to help him, and throughout the whole fiasco police were intercepting and monitoring communications.

Finally, Ho and his co-defendants found a premises they could use but they were caught midway through executing their plan.

A police raid of the address interrupted one offender using an angle grinder to prise open one of the metal containers, while Ho worked on another with a drill.

Crown prosecutor Michael Walker said the 11kg of meth was tested and found to be "extremely pure".

He said the offending was premeditated and incorporated more than just Ho just acting as a drug mule.

The teenager's mother, accompanied by a staff member from the Taiwanese embassy, was in court to see her son sentenced.

It was the fourth time she had been over for his court appearances and she cried as he was led away.

The teenager's father -- a university staff member in Taiwan -- had also been to see him in court but was not present today.

Judge Christopher Field gave Ho discounts for his youth, his previous clean record and his early guilty plea but said the offending "fell into the most serious category".

Ho was jailed for 11 and a half years and will spend at least five in prison before being eligible for parole.

Three others implicated in the offending have pleaded not guilty and their case is before the High Court.