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A former local Crime Stoppers president was also secretly running a large, illegal marijuana operation in Leamington, the prosecution suggested Tuesday on the first day of his trafficking trial.

Jon-Paul Fuller, now 47, was arrested during a police raid in Leamington Sept. 21, 2016, at a property in the 1900 block of Fox Run Road. He was charged with the production and trafficking of marijuana over $3 million.

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He was quickly dismissed by Crime Stoppers — a local agency designed to thwart crime by taking anonymous tips — following his arrest.

There were two houses and several greenhouses on the site controlled by Fuller that led to the seizure by Ontario Provincial Police of 2,900 marijuana plants between eight and 12 feet high. They were valued at $2.9 million with another 91 pounds of harvested marijuana found at the site valued at $180,000.

Questions were raised by defence lawyer Andrew Bradie just prior to the start of the trial regarding the process carried out by police during the raid and confiscation of Bailey’s possessions, but Superior Court Justice Renee Pomerance ruled the trial against Fuller was to proceed.