Three Chinese and their Ghanaian counterpart have been arrested by National Security operatives along the Pra River near Supom-Dunkwa in the Shama District of the Western Region for suspected galamsey activities and pollution of the Pra River.
The suspects, names withheld, who were found engaging in illegal mining under the pretext of sand wining, have been handed over to the Western Regional Police Command in Sekondi.
A National Security Operative, Hashem Tankonu, who led the operation told Channel One News that although they claimed to be engaging in sand winning, they were arrested with galamsey gold washing gadgets
They were also found with gold washing platforms on the Pra River.
“When we got there, we collected things that we suspected were equipment for galamsey. We then took into custody three Chinese men who called their Ghanaian counterparts who were all being interrogated by the Police.
“We suspect them to be doing galamsey, and we have pictures and videos of them doing the galamsey in the house they stay in, the backyard and at the banks of the Pra River.
“So we picked some of the items and arrested them. There is also a machine on the River that we suspected was pumping muddy water back into the river because they wash the sand and we saw the washing platform too. There is a galamsey setup behind the house too that shows that they are doing galamsey,” he said.
The Western Regional Police Crime Office has since taken the statement of the Ghanaian suspect and released him on bail but the three Chinese suspects are still in the hands of the police due to language barrier, awaiting an interpreter before they can be granted bail.
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