Four galamsey operators, including a Russian national, have been arrested by the police in the Neung South Forest Reserve in the Tarkwa Nsuem Municipality of the Western Region. The four suspects — Rose Mark, 36, the Russian; Kwabena Kese, 37; Emmanuel Kwao, 37; and Amoako Martin, 25 — were arrested by a team of police and officials of the Forestry Commission. Two excavators, water pumps and other tools being used for the operations in the reserve were seized by the police. They are said to have heavily polluted River Bonsa, which serves as the only source of drinking water for thousands of inhabitants downstream. The police officers said many operators were illegally prospecting for gold and using the river to wash the chemicals in extracting the gold. The Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, Chief Inspector Olivia Ewurabena Adiku, said information gathered was that more than 20 hectares of reserve land had already been destroyed. She said the police were not able to arrest all of the operators because of danger posed by the open pits left uncovered in the reserve. The PRO urged foreigners to be mindful of the country's laws, which did not allow foreigners to engage in small-scale mining. She said the police would process them and ensure that they were properly remanded while investigations continued. She said illegal mining had become one of the challenges facing the region and the police would do everything to prevent it. Source: Daily Graphic