Three suspects, including a Burkinabe, were on Wednesday arrested and handed over to the Upper West Regional Police Command for allegedly engaging in illegal mining.
The 33-year-old Burkinabe, Hamidu Hammond, and the two others whose names are withheld for security reasons, were arrested in an exercise that was undertaken by the Operation Vanguard, at Dorimon in the Wa West District.
Briefing the Ghanaian Times at Wa yesterday, the Upper West Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Francis Aboayge Nyarko, said the team acted on information that the gang was allegedly operating in the Dorimon area.
According to him, some illegal miners bolted before the team arrived at the scene, but when the two suspects were arrested they led the team to arrest the Burkinabe, suspected to be their leader.
DCOP Nyarko indicated that Hamidu, who resisted arrest ,sustained injury and had been admitted at the Wa Hospital, and the two others were currently in police custody, assisting with investigation.
He said gold detectors, sticks, and other items were retrieved from the site.
DCOP Nyarko assured the public that that the team would sustain the operation until people engaging in illegal mining were arrested.
He appealed to the people to volunteer information on illegal miners to the security agencies.
FROM RAFIA ABDUL-RAZAK, WA
