The anti-galamsey taskforce – Operation Vanguard – has declared that it is leaving no stone unturned to apprehend illegal miners also called galamseyers, who are bent on using toxic substances in their illegal activities in the water bodies.
To this end, the taskforce embarked on an operation during four galamseyers suspected of using toxic substances, including zinc and cyanide, in their operations at Aboso, near Tarkwa in the Western Region.
Cyanide is a toxic substance that kills instantly. When it gets into water bodies, it can kill hundreds of people who drink the water.
DAILY GUIDE learnt that the recalcitrant illegal miners, who had been operating from six different sites a few meters away from the Aboso Township, had set spies to alert them of any intruders, including security agents.
However, last Tuesday, the illegal miners were outwitted by Operation Vanguard, invaded the camp and arrested four of them, including one Bright Oduro, described as a kingpin in the illegal business.
The arrest of the four suspects comes a day after the taskforce had arrested seven Chinese and 20 Ghanaians suspected to be illegal miners at Bremang and Brofoyeduru in the Central Region.
Preliminary investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) confirmed excessive use and presence of cyanide in water bodies at the mining town of Aboso.
Moses Musah Kpebu, Senior Programmes Officer of EPA at Tarkwa, claimed that initial investigations revealed the presence of cyanide and that his outfit was sending samples to the laboratory for further examination.
“We’ve taken the samples to the lab for analysis; the slurry and the solution, and other chemicals that were detected.
“Just as we got to the site, we realized that we could even smell the cyanide. The cyanide fumes smell especially when the weather becomes cold, particularly in the evening.
“So when we got there in the evening, we could even smell the cyanide,” Mr Moses Musah Kpebu, revealed.
He indicated that the EPA was concerned about the harmful effects of cyanide on human and animal lives as well as the environment.
Public Relations Officer of Operation Vanguard, Squadron Leader Omane Agyei, commended personnel of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of the taskforce adding, “They first had to do recognisance and that they had to do in plain clothes before they sprung the attack.”
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