Chinese Arrested Over Illegal Mining

Five people, including three Chinese nationals, were on Thursday arrested in the Ashanti Region for indulging in illegal mining, also known as ‘Galamsey’ in the local parlance.

Top Operation Vanguard anti galemsey officials nabbed the five at Benebene-Odaho, a village near Jacobu in the Amansie District of the Ashanti Region.

The Chinese nationals and their two Ghanaian counterparts, who have defied government’s order to ban illegal mining, were caught red-handed unlawfully mining for gold.

Before they realized, they were surrounded by fully armed Operation Vanguard operatives, who had since handed them over to the Jacobu police for investigations.

According to reports, the Chinese nationals are residents of Daaban in the Kumasi Metropolis, but they have frequented Benebene-Odaho to search for gold, lately.

For some days before their arrest, these Chinese nationals, who have sophisticated machines for mining, had been digging hard in a search for the precious metal and there presene and activity became known to locals.

Some residents of the area, who were said not to be happy about the development, reportedly informed the authorities concerned about the illegal acts in their area.

The Operation Vanguard operatives therefore monitored the Chinese nationals for some days and nabbed the three of them alongside their two Ghanaian counterparts.

Meanwhile, the machines that the Chinese nationals used to dig for the gold, in a clear defiance of the government’s order, have been seized, reports suggested.