Some officials from the Forestry Commission and personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) on Tuesday morning dismantled and demolished a sprawling settlement in the Subri Forest Reserve in the Western Region.

According to the Forestry Commission, the settlement in the forest reserve was illegal and therefore needed to be demolished.

They accused the settlers of engaging in illegal mining in the forest reserve in addition to other vices such as prostitution, money laundering and human trafficking.

“This entire place is deep inside a forest reserve and has been completely taken over by illegal miners. We found nationals from Niger, Mali, Guinea, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Ghana, all living and mining illegally here,” one of the personnel from the GAF who was part of the operation said in a video shared by Joy News.

According to the Forestry Commission, illegal mining has left extensive environmental damage throughout the Subri Forest Reserve, with deep pits, widespread deforestation, and polluted streams.

In the dawn raid, the troops dismantled dozens of makeshift structures.

Some young women, believed to have been trafficked from Nigeria and forced into prostitution, were rescued after revealing they had been misled by promises of legitimate work.

“This is more than galamsey. It’s a complex criminal hub with everything from human trafficking to money laundering happening right under the radar,” one of the officers in the operation said.