Operation Vanguard, a joint military-police taskforce fighting illegal mining has arrested two Chinese and their two local accomplices suspected of mining illegally in the Birim North District of the Eastern region.

According to a statement from Captain Andy Sowatey, Public Relations Officer of Operation Vanguard and copied to the Ghana News Agency, some illegal miners hide behind small scale miners to engage in illegal mining.

“With the lifting of ban on small scale mining, some unlicensed miners have resorted to hiding behind the concessions of some licensed small scale miners, in other to evade Vanguard patrols. Operation Vanguard is however putting measures in place to flush them out”, it said.

The two Chinese nationals, Wan Zhi Dong, 49 and Shi Zhi Hai, 51, have been handed over to the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Illegal Mining, together with two excavators following their arrests.

The statement also said the two locals, Imoro Yankey, 42 and Kwadwo Apau, 41, are currently in police custody at the Afosu Police Station pending further investigations.

The statement said five locals suspected of illegal mining were apprehended in the Prestea Huni Valley District in the Western region and have been handed over to the Prestea District Police, for further investigations to be conducted into their activities.

It said six other locals were arrested in the Wassa Akropong District in the Central region and have been handed over to the district police for further action.