A total of ten illegal miners, comprising nine Ghanaians and a Chinese, have been arrested by the Operation Vanguard taskforce at two separate locations in the Upper Denkyira East district in the Central Region.
One set of the illegal miners, all Ghanaians, was grabbed today (Monday) at Mfanteman when the task-force was on its regular patrol in the area.
They are Joe Afful, Yaw Boakye, Kofi Osei, Antwi Nicholas, Talata Gangiba, Emmanuel Coffie and Mustapha Demon.
According to the task-force, its patrol members came across heaps of sand and gravels with some individuals seriously working with excavators, so the team moved in and apprehended the seven ‘galamsey’ operators.
The team dismantled two excavators, some industrial water pumping machines and a washing plant which were being used by the illegal miners on the site while it also seized control boards and monitors as exhibits.
Earlier, the Operation Vanguard taskforce had, on Saturday, June 2, apprehended three suspects who were working on an illegal mining site at Breman-Dominase.
The three consisted of a Chinese named Wang, 50 years, whereas the rest were Ghanaians, Philip Fordjour, 26 years old and Duban Klayi, 22.
The task-force seized a Haojin motorbike, an excavator, two control levers, a control board and a monitor from the three as exhibits.
They also destroyed several mining items used by the illegal miners including two big water pumping machines and a washing plant.
All ten suspected illegal miners have been handed over to the Atekyem Police Station at Dunkwa-on-Offin for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the anti-illegal mining Operation Vanguard taskforce has issued a strong warning to individual who the team says are some “military and police personnel as well as some civilians parading as National Security operatives or military/police personnel and are going around taking bribes from illegal miners” to desist from the act.
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By: Joseph Ackon-Mensah/citinewsroom.com/Ghana