Some seven illegal miners have been arrested by the Central FOB of Operation Vanguard at Mfanteman in the Upper Denkyira East Municipality on Monday 4.

Joe Afful, Yaw Boakye, Kofi Osei, Antwi Nicholas, Talata Gangiba, Emmanuel Coffie and Mustapha Demon were caught hands down by the taskforce who were on their regular patrols. 

They came across heaps of sand and gravels with some the arrested individuals seriously working with excavators.

Following the arrest, the taskforce immobilized two excavators, some industrial water pumping machines and a washing plant on the site. Control boards and monitors were also seized as exhibits.

The seven suspects have been sent to the Dunkwa Atekyem Police Station for further investigation. 

Earlier on Saturday 2 June 2018, the same FOB arrested three suspects who were working on an illegal mining site at Breman-Dominase.

They included Wang, 50, a Chinese and Philip Fordjour, 26 and Duban Klayi, 22, who are Ghanaians.

Following the arrest, the task force destroyed several items used by these miscreants in degrading the land and these included two big water pumping machines and a washing plant as well as other mining equipment.

In addition, one Haojin motorbike and one excavator were seized together with two control levers, control board, monitor as exhibits.

Meanwhile, the three suspects have also been handed over to the Atekyem Police Station for further investigation.

Comments from Operation Vanguard 

Operation Vanguard (OV) Joint Task Force has always maintained that its members are not engaged in any acts of bribery.

OV will not allow few bad nuts within to tarnish the image of the Task Force and for that matter the Ghana Armed Forces. 

Recent reports in the media about OV personnel allegedly involved in an unauthorised illegal mining operation was a press release by the Ghana Armed Forces.

This goes a long way to show that the Task Force and the Ghana Armed Forces frowns on misconduct of its personnel.

These individuals have been placed under close arrest pending investigation. The military has concluded its investigations on the matter and is awaiting that of the police for appropriate punishment.