Temuera Morrison has called in his lawyers after an online drug dealer used his classic Shortland Street character "Dr Ropata" to market cannabis sold online.

In an exclusive interview, the New Zealand man behind the online tinny store claimed he made about $40,000 from 300 deals online where he sold methamphetamine, cannabis, MDMA, hallucinogens like LSD, mushrooms and DMT, as well as fake drivers licences made on a special printer.

The man - who cannot be named for legal reasons - said he used the Dr Ropata identity online for "marketability".

Supplied He also sold the hallucinogen psilocybin.

"He's a classic New Zealand character ... I liked all the catchphrases and stuff I could use with it."

In the television series, Hone Ropata was a hospital doctor played by Morrison.

But the Once Were Warriors star is not impressed with his image being used to sell drugs. His agent Gabriella Larkin-Bruce said the actor had "no awareness of this activity and certainly has no connection with this individual in any way" and is now seeking legal advice.

"In fact we are shocked at the news and offended by the inference that there is any association. No permission was sought after or granted for the use of either the character name 'Dr Ropata' or the use of Temuera's image," she said.

A Fairfax investigation located the man's online drug dealing business on the 'dark web', a lawless part of the internet unseen by most computer users.

The man appeared to be selling the drugs openly, but Fairfax could not independently verify all of his claims.

The man said he stopped selling the drugs in August.

On August 11, the man said he handed himself in to police in Palmerston North and confessed to selling drugs on the deep web.

But last week police refused to confirm whether he was being investigated for selling the drugs online.

However, he was charged only with breaching community work for a previous conviction of cultivating cannabis, as well as what he called a "trumped-up" charge of aggravated robbery. He pleaded guilty to breaching community work but not guilty to the charge of aggravated robbery.

He was remanded in custody and in Nelson District Court via video link from Christchurch Men's Prison on September 1, charged with remaining after a burglary, willful damage and procuring/possessing cannabis. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

He was released on bail in the Nelson area and was supposed to appear again on October 5. However he failed to appear on that date, and when spoken to said he was "evading law enforcement".

The man claimed he was "first and foremost" an "online activist". His illicit operation was a "social experiment" that aimed to prove trafficking drugs on the dark web was a safe alternative to buying them on the street, and should be legal.

He claimed most of the money he made was donated to charities including the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), he said.

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The "dark web" is part of the internet that is used for illegal activities like drugs and weapons trading, child pornography, and selling stolen credit cards, and doesn't turn up in search engines like Google.

The majority of information stored there is harmless information like government records, but a small sliver of the dark web is used for more sinister purposes.

The most famous dark net marketplace was Silk Road, which was shut down by the FBI in 2013. The FBI seized more than NZ$42m in Bitcoins from its creator Ross Ulbricht.

Dark web users, like the one using the Dr Ropata identity, use a purpose-built browser called Tor to protect their anonymity, and message each other through an email encryption system known as PGP.

Dark net drug trafficking is on the rise in New Zealand, with police making several arrests related to the crime the past two years.

In July, 20-year-old Dunedin student Daniel McKechnie was sentenced to seven years in prison for importing and distributing $167,000 worth of drugs.

"While New Zealand's illicit drug market continues to be driven by organised crime groups, there has been a noticeable rise in the role of 'dark web' sites such as Silk Road," said National Drug Intelligence Bureau (NDIB) Co-ordinator John O'Keefe.

He said the uptake in dark web use for importing drugs for personal use was evidenced by an increase in "smaller, but more frequent imports".

A cursory search of several dark net marketplaces revealed at least three other drug vendors are operating from New Zealand.

Many international dealers offer shipping to New Zealand as well.