The Forestry Commission’s Rapid Response Unit (RRU) has arrested 12 persons for allegedly engaging in illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, inside the Atiwa Range Forest Reserve in the Eastern Region.

The arrests were made during a dawn operation on September 4, 2026, around the Sagyimase community in Compartments 61 and 62 of the Atewa Forest Reserve in the Kyebi Forest District.

According to the Forestry Commission, 17 personnel drawn from the Assin Fosu, Akim Oda and Juaso Forest Districts were deployed at about 1:30 a.m. as part of a covert operation to clamp down on illegal mining activities in the reserve.

The team encountered a group of illegal miners actively operating at the site, resulting in the arrest of 12 suspects, while others managed to escape into the adjoining bush.

Items retrieved from the site included five motorbikes, comprising three Royal motorbikes, one Apsonic Aloba and one Apsonic Paul Sport, as well as 11 shovels, water hoses, blankets used for washing gold and three gallons of petrol.

The Forestry Commission said the 12 suspects, together with two of the motorbikes and other exhibits, had been handed over to the Kyebi District Police Command for further investigation and prosecution.

The remaining three motorbikes have been retained at the Kyebi District Office of the Forest Services Division for safekeeping.

The Commission said the operation was successfully executed without casualties and described the arrests and seizure of equipment as a deterrent to persons engaged in illegal mining within forest reserves.

The Atewa Range Forest Reserve is a major biodiversity hotspot and critical watershed, serving as the headwaters of the Birim, Densu and Ayensu rivers.

The rivers provide water to millions of people, including residents of Accra and surrounding communities.

The reserve has, however, come under increasing pressure from illegal mining and logging, raising concerns about the potential impact on Ghana’s water security and biodiversity.Ghana economic insights