A drug syndicate boss who police believe introduced the methamphetamine "P" to Auckland attacked a prison guard just days after being found guilty by a jury.
Waha Saifiti attacked the guard at Mt Eden Prison, where he is awaiting sentencing on drug-making charges.
The guard was searching the cell on Thursday last week when Saifiti, without warning, punched him in the head.
Yesterday, the 51-year-old pleaded guilty in the Auckland District Court to the assault.
Judge Anne Kiernan sentenced Saifiti to 21 days in prison.
The attack came 12 days after a High Court jury found Saifiti guilty of manufacturing and conspiring to supply methamphetamine.
He is to be sentenced on those charges this month.
The drugs case was the end of Operation Flower, run by the Auckland police organised crime squad in late 2000, resulting in 20 arrests.
Police uncovered the country's biggest methamphetamine lab, used by the syndicate in West Auckland. Its discovery prompted the evacuation of a nearby school and homes for fear that it would explode.
The lab was one of nine found that year. Last year police found 147.
Police said Saifiti was the kingpin of a drugs syndicate that made and supplied speed to the Auckland market. He was the so-called chief executive of the "Methamphetamine Makers Co Ltd".
The soaring use of P, which has been linked to a number of high-profile violent crimes, including the RSA killings, led Parliament to reclassify it as a Class A drug.
The Government also allocated $6.6 million in last month's Budget to fund lab clean-up teams.
Drugs boss hit prison guard
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