Malian, Guinean illegal miners invade Bole
More than 100 suspected illegal miners, mainly from Guinea and Mali, have been arrested for prospecting for gold at Tinga, a farming community in the Bole District in the Northern Region.
Advertisement
Ninety six of the suspects are Guineans, while nine are Malians.
The weary-looking suspects are currently in custody at the Northern Regional Police Headquarters in Tamale.
The police retrieved some mining implements, including 66 gold detectors, from the suspects, who had entered the country without any valid travelling documents.
They are to appear before court today.
According to the Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Alhaji Mahama Arhin, the suspects were arrested on Saturday morning on their way to the various illegal mining spots in the area.
They were said to have been engaged in the illegal mining activities for the past one week.
Alhaji Arhin said the operation to arrest the suspects was successfully carried out in collaboration with officers from the Ghana Immigration Service in the Bole District that shared borders with the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire.
“The irony of the case is that all the suspects have in their possession permits that were allegedly offered them by the Tinga chief,” he stated.
He described the action by the chief, whose name was not readily available, as illegal, for which reason “we have invited him to avail himself to our outfit for questioning”.
Alhaji Arhin said investigations were still going on to forestall the activities of illegal miners in the district who were not only polluting water bodies but also destroying farm lands and the environment.