26 persons have been taken into custody by the police for engaging in illegal mining in a Western Region forest reserve close to Samreboi.
With the assistance of intelligence, the raid was conducted as part of a larger campaign to stop galamsey, which has seriously harmed Ghana’s ecology.
Several police units, including the National Operations Directorate, CID, Intelligence Directorate, and the Formed Police Unit, were in charge of the operation. Six Chinese, two Koreans, and eighteen Ghanaians were arrested by officers who stormed the mining site and were suspected of working in the protected area.
Additionally, eight excavators were seized, and five more were abandoned because of transportation issues. Officers also confiscated four motorcycles, two Toyota Hilux pickup trucks, a Toyota RAV4, and other mining equipment connected to the illicit business.
Authorities connected the location to Bernard Antwi Boasiako, better known as Chairman Wontumi, and his Akonta Mining Company. Discussions concerning illicit mining in Ghana have brought up his name.
At the location, police discovered a number of mining implements and weapons, including cars, pump-action rifles, water pumps, excavators, payloaders, and machetes. Large tracts of land were destroyed, and water bodies were contaminated, causing significant environmental harm.
The suspects are still being held and will shortly be the subject of court proceedings.
