FOUR CHINESE illegal miners, also known as galamseyers, who have been destroying river bodies which serves as sources of drinking water for some communities in the Ashanti Region, have been arrested in possession of pump action guns.
The suspects, made up of Li Quan, 44, Lu, 36, Li Xuyu, 47 and Su Shanxin, 63, have been mining illegally along the Subin and Jimi Rivers at Atatam, a farming community in the Adansi-Asokwa District.
Significantly, the arrest of the illegal miners over the weekend was made possible following a joint security operation by the Ashanti Regional Police Command and the Minerals Development Fund (MDF).
According to reports, the security agents and the MDF had lately been receiving reports about how the aforementioned Chinese nationals were destroying river bodies with impunity through their illegal mining activities.
To help save the river bodies and the environment, the police and MDF officials then stormed the site where the Chinese nationals were said to be destroying the river bodies over the weekend.
To their dismay, the police and MDF officials realised that indeed the Chinese illegal miners had destroyed a huge portion of land. They then managed to swiftly apprehend the Chinese miners and locked them up to face the law.
The security agents also managed to seize 11 excavators. According to reports, four of the excavators were quickly destroyed so they cannot be moved away. The police then transported the remaining seven to Bekwai Criminal Investigations Department (CID) station.
Three pump action guns, which the Chinese nationals, perhaps, were using to scare and prevent the local people from interfering with their illegal activities, were also seized at the site.
FROM I.F. Joe Awuah, Kumasi