A joint taskforce comprising the Forestry Fee and the navy has arrested 4 people and seized ten items of mining tools in a raid on the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve within the Enchi Forest District of the Western North Area.
The seized gadgets, together with 9 excavators and one bulldozer, had been captured through the operation on Sunday, 9 March 2025.
This motion kinds a part of the federal government’s renewed crackdown on unlawful mining, locally known as ‘galamsey.’
Earlier, on Tuesday, 4 March 2025, operational employees from the Enchi Forest District of the Forest Companies Division (FSD), together with the Speedy Response Staff, acted on a tip-off and stormed the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve, efficiently eradicating twelve excavators engaged in unlawful mining.
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Nevertheless, the workforce was unable to make any arrests, as they had been outnumbered and the miners had been armed.
Following an intelligence report on Thursday, 6 March 2025, indicating that unlawful miners had been planning to return to the reserve, the workforce re-entered the forest and prevented re-entry.
On Saturday, 8 March 2025, one other tip-off revealed that the unlawful miners had returned. The workforce tried to impact arrests however was as soon as once more outnumbered, because the miners had been closely armed and refused to vacate the reserve.
Subsequently, a joint workforce was deployed to the realm, resulting in the arrests and the seizure of the excavators. The confiscated tools is being transported to the Enchi District Meeting premises, and a proper criticism has been lodged with the Enchi District Police Command.
In Ghana, galamsey refers to unregulated small-scale gold mining performed with out official permits or oversight. The time period originates from the phrase “collect them and promote,” highlighting the casual and infrequently unlawful nature of those operations.
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Galamsey has brought about intensive environmental harm, with roughly 60% of Ghana’s rivers—together with the Oda, Offin, Pra, and Densu—severely polluted by mercury and cyanide. Deforestation, soil erosion, and water contamination from these actions pose important long-term dangers to ecosystems and public well being.
