Some of the destroyed structures
The military in collaboration with the Forestry Commission (FC) has raided a community near the Subri Forest Reserve which has been a hub for criminals, including some foreign nationals.
The team stormed Abrewa Nni Nkran in a joint dawn operation in the forest reserve to bring sanity to the place.
Before storming the site, the team expected to find around 2,000 illegal miners, also called galamseyers, in the community.
Instead, the team uncovered a thriving criminal hub with all kinds of people, including foreign nationals from Nigeria, Guinea, Niger, Burkina Faso, and Mali in the community.
It was revealed that the sprawling illegal mining settlement has become home to the over 10,000 people.
According to information gathered, what began as a small village had grown into a lawless illegal mining enclave.
The joint team therefore burnt majority of the illegal structures in the community, particularly, those used by the illegal miners.
Some of the residents pointed out that it appears the community is a representative of ECOWAS.
“This is because of the large number of people from some other West African countries staying in the community,” one resident said.
The residents who were happy with the move by the military and the Forestry Commission highlighted some of the social vices in the community.
They cited child prostitution, drug abuse, counterfeit operations, and human trafficking as some of the activities that take place in the community.
They also disclosed that the foreign nationals mine illegally in the forest reserve, and had established makeshift brothels in the area.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi