The joint military/police taskforce set up to enforce the ban on illegal mining, to help save the environment, has been making good progress in its assigned task.

It has so far arrested 362 suspected illegal miners including some Chinese and seized a number of mining equipment, among these are over 1,500 ‘chang fa’ and water pumping machines.

Twenty-four (24) of those arrested have been convicted by the courts with some of them sentenced to fines ranging from GH¢1,080.00 to GH¢6,000.00, while others have been jailed – doing between four and 18 months.

Major Gariba Adams Pabi, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Taskforce, which has been code-named ‘Operation Vanguard’, made this known to journalists at New Obuasi (Denkyira-Obuasi) where they had made a stopover to visit the site where the late army officer, Major Maxwell Mahama, was gruesomely murdered.

He said they were happy about the way things had gone and called for continued support, understanding and cooperation of everybody.

He underlined the need for all to accept to get right with the law and work together to protect the water bodies and forest reserves.

It was a quite an emotional moment, when the Commander, Colonel William Agyapong, led the officers and men to pray for the soul of the deceased officer.

He also thanked God for the mercies, favor and protection as they carried out their duties to the nation.

Major Mahama was killed on May 29, this year, whilst leading a military taskforce to stop illegal mining in the Denkyira-Obuasi.

‘Operation Vanguard’ was officially inaugurated on July 31, to enforce the ban on illegal and small scale mining across the country.