A man attempting to fool Kiwi authorities by importing methamphetamine hidden inside another chemical will spend up to 10 years in prison.

Yuen Chan earlier pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to make meth and possessing equipment for its manufacture.

He acted as part of a group importing about 46 kilograms of pure meth hidden in a shipment of dishwashing bottles arriving in January.

At the time, police described the shipment as an alarming new method for smuggling the drug into the country.

On Tuesday, Justice Christine Gordon sentenced Chan to 10 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the operation, with a minimum jail term of half his sentence.

"You came to New Zealand with the express purpose of committing a crime that causes very significant harm to this country," she told the High Court at Auckland.

Chan was arrested in March as part of a sting mounted by the National Organised Crime group, code-named Operation Reverse.

The meth shipment had arrived in New Zealand from Hong Kong on January 28.

However, when examined by Customs, it was found to contain about 160 litres of a substance known as t-boc methamphetamine hidden in dishwashing liquid bottles.

T-boc had been added to the meth to mask the drug's presence, Justice Gordon said.

The substance could then later be removed using a chemical process to allow the meth to be extracted for sale.

Shortly after the shipment's arrival in New Zealand, Chan began jetting in and out of the country and, along with two others, moved it between a storage unit and rented Lynfield property.

The group also accepted shipments of equipment, such as a rotary evaporator, for use in separating the meth from its masking agent, t-boc.

At the time of the shipment, t-boc meth was not yet a controlled drug and it was believed to be the first time it had been seized in New Zealand.

Justice Gordon said it was important to use Chan's case to deter future traffickers of the substance.

"Bringing 'new' drugs, yet to be classified as controlled drugs, into the country in order to circumvent our importation and manufacturing laws will be met with a stern response," she said.