The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has arrested 195 illegal miners in a major raid on an illegal mining site at Akango in the Nzema East Municipality of the Western Region.
The mining activity, according to environmental journalist Erasmus Asare Donkor, had expanded dangerously close to a public road.
In a notice, he disclosed that the suspects were apprehended as personnel moved to secure and dismantle the illegal mining operation.
He added that the task force directed the miners to remove their mining equipment and materials from the affected area before the machinery and infrastructure used for the illegal activities were destroyed.
“In total, 29 chanfang machines, 37 water pumps, five motorbikes and a tricycle associated with the illegal mining operation were destroyed,” he said further.
The latest development comes in the wake of the government’s renewed fight against illegal mining nationwide.
