The Rapid Response and the District Monitoring Teams in the Enchi Forest District of the Forestry Commission arrested 12 illegal miners in the Tano Anwia Forest Reserve in the Enchi Forest District of the Western North Region.

The arrest which took place on March 11, 2025, included nine Ghanaians and three Chinese illegal miners.

The teams seized one excavator and two gold detector machines in Compartments 17 and 63 in the Forest Reserve.

This was in a statement from the Public Affairs Unit of the Forestry Commission copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The Chinese suspects were using an excavator machine for illegal mining in Compartment 17, and nine Ghanaian suspects were engaged in “dig and wash” in Compartment 63 in the Reserve.

The Chinese suspects are Cheng Yung, 48; Yangedon, 40; and Lengtar, 45.

The Ghanaian suspects are Yaw Timothy, 20; Bonye George, 20; Joseph Ayoo, 23; and Tanzon Mark, 20.

The rest are Kofi Salifu, 23; Legosie Francis, 20; Justin Dakora, 20; Bismark Lebesue, 23; and Boye Bedua, 26.

The suspects were handed over to the Enchi District Police Command for further investigations and prosecution.

The statement said arrangements were being made to move the excavator from the reserve for safekeeping at the Enchi Municipal Assembly premises.

Mr Joseph Appiah Frimpong, the District Manager, said, “The Forestry Commission will not relent in its efforts in the fight against illegal mining and logging in the nation’s forest reserves.

“I would like to throw caution to the illegal operators to be very mindful of their acts because the Commission will be at their heels, and they could face imprisonment, a fine or both when found guilty at the law courts”, he said.

The Tano Anwia Forest Reserve has come under severe attacks in recent times.

It would be recalled that on March 9, 2025, the Commission, in collaboration with 30 military personnel, stormed the Reserve and seized eight excavators, one bulldozer and a pump-action rifle in Compartments 17 and 20.