In the Potroase area of the Atewa Forest Reserve, at least eight illegal miners have been taken into custody for their illegal mining operations.
A volunteer youth group from Potroase in the Eastern Region and the Forestry Commission guards in Kyebi worked together to make the arrests.
This operation follows the Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Unit setting four small-scale miner-owned excavators on fire.
The operation occurred while the suspects were actively mining, according to Isaac Noble Eshun, the Forestry Commission’s Eastern Regional Director, who visited the location where the miners were captured.
“On Sunday, we didn’t receive police assistance, but a youth group in Potroase helped the officer in charge and his men to successfully apprehend the eight individuals who had entered the forest reserve to mine,” he explained.
Eshun also shared details of an earlier encounter on Saturday when heavily built men, allegedly hired by the miners, obstructed officers from making an arrest.
“We received information about people illegally entering the Potroase area of the Atewa Forest Reserve. Our officers tried to approach the area in the evening, but due to the darkness and the presence of these individuals, they were unable to proceed,” he added.
The Forestry Commission has made it clear that it will continue to take strong action against illegal mining in forest reserves.
Eshun emphasized, “We are committed, along with our partners and stakeholders, to combat illegal mining. Over the past two years, the Commission has been cracking down on this issue in forest reserves, as directed by the President and the Minister of the sector. The menace has been spreading, particularly in the Ashanti, Western, and lately the Eastern region.”
