The man who was the distribution mastermind of a major methamphetamine network in Auckland, Waikato and Coromandel will spend at least eight years behind bars.

Aenoy Bouavong and six others involved in the sophisticated commercial operation were sentenced in the High Court in Auckland on Friday.

Bouavong, who organised the syndicate's distribution network and sourced methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine, was sentenced to 16 years and three months jail time with a non-parole period of eight years.

Earlier on Friday, syndicate leader Feng Chih Hsu was sentenced to a maximum sentence of 17 years and three months in prison, with a minimum period of eight years behind bars.

The pair's co-offenders were given minimum sentences between two and almost six years in prison for offences relating to supply of the Class-A drug.

Hsu pleaded guilty to charges of possessing and supplying methamphetamine, and firearms charges, following his arrest in July 2010 as part of a 12-month police investigation into the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine.

Police seized more than $1 million cash, 5kg of methamphetamine, 21 firearms and two cars as part of Operation Arcadia.

It was described as one of the most significant seizures of P made in New Zealand.

Hsu's guilty plea was only revealed in March after a High Court jury found the others involved in the network guilty of serious drug offences.