The Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU) has arrested 12 persons for allegedly engaging in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, inside the Atewa Range Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region.
The arrests were made during a dawn operation on September 4, 2026, around the Sagyimase community in Compartments 61 and 62 of the Atewa Forest Reserve in the Kyebi Forest District.
According to the Forestry Commission, 17 personnel drawn from the Assin Fosu, Akim Oda and Juaso Forest Districts were deployed at about 1:30 a.m. as part of a covert operation to clamp down on illegal mining activities in the reserve.
The team encountered a group of illegal miners actively operating at the site, resulting in the arrest of 12 suspects, while others managed to escape into the adjoining bush.
Items retrieved from the site included five motorbikes, comprising three Royal motorbikes, one Apsonic Aloba and one Apsonic Paul Sport, as well as 11 shovels, water hoses, blankets used for washing gold and three gallons of petrol.
The Forestry Commission said the 12 suspects, together with two of the motorbikes and other exhibits, had been handed over to the Kyebi District Police Command for further investigation and prosecution.
Source:Mybrytfmonline.com
