The Operation Vanguard Task Force has arrested 15 illegal miners, including a Burkinabé national at Prestea in the Prestea-Huni Valley District in the Western Region.
The Burkinabé national, Abdulai Diallo, 32, was part of illegal miners who were arrested last Monday in swoop by the taskforce.
The 15 illegal miners have since been handed over to the Prestea police to be processed for court.
The Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the task force, Major Adams Gariba Pabi who confirmed this to Graphic Online said the operation is still underway and will arrest all persons engaged in the illegality.
He has, therefore, appealed to the public to volunteer information that could lead to the arrest of any more foreign illegal miners flouting the directive to halt all small scale and other illegal mining.
Background
The Operation Vanguard is aimed at ensuring that the President of Ghana’s Special Initiative against illegal mining was carried out.
The taskforce, comprised 400 security men made up of personnel of the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the Police Service have been divided into three groups to cover the Ashanti, Eastern and Western regions to halt all illegal mining activities.