About 56 people have been arrested across seven illegal mining sites, popularly known as galamsey, at Kadadwen in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality.
The operation was led by the Western Regional Security Council in collaboration with personnel from the Second Infantry Battalion, the Police, and the Western Naval Command on Thursday, March 13.
The suspects, according to reports by Accra-based Citi News, include 47 males and nine females.
They have since been handed over to the Western Regional Police Command for processing and further action.
In another operation in the Ahanta West Municipality and the Mpohor District, the team seized three motorbikes, nine pumping machines, three excavators, and burnt 25 Changfang machines.
However, no arrest was made as the illegal miners abandoned their equipment and fled.
They were caught operating within the Norpalm Oil Plantation and Ghana Rubber Company Ltd areas in the Ahanta West Municipality and the Mpohor District.
The joint operation targeting illegal mining and environmental destruction was led by Western Regional National Security Liaison Officer Brigadier General Musa Whajah.
Brigadier General Whajah, in an interview, reaffirmed that the operation forms part of the government’s anti-galamsey fight.
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