A photo of some of the suspects
51 personnel of the Forestry Commission, made up of forest guards from the Buipe and Bole Forest District offices of the Forest Services Division, and three Rapid Response teams, have arrested 11 Chinese and 10 Ghanaians in an intelligence -led anti-illegal mining swoop in the Yakombo Forest Reserve in the Buipe Forest District of the Savannah Region.
The suspects were arrested on December 2,2025, they were rounded up in Compartments 50 and 51 of the Reserve, which is close to Tuntumba in the Bole- Bamboi District.
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The names of the 11 Chinese suspects are: Tang Shao Qi, 28; He Peng,40; Zhou Qin Sar,25; Wu Xu, 39; He Chuang Ye, 45; Cheng Lin 40; Long Xi, 32; Yang Gesheng,51; Zhang Hongzhaojie,34; Zhou Peng, 39 and Wu Yujie, 24.
The 10 Ghanaians also gave their names as: Alhassan Yakubu; Daniel Mba, 33; Pious Kwabena, 20; Emmanuel Amankra,40; Seidu Suleman,44; Sampson Akawuni,22; Thadeus Gideon,27; Mohammed Salim, 21; Mohammed Kanamu, 25; and Saaka Yakubu, 22.
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Additionally, one Toyota Hilux and two Great Wall pick-up vehicles; three Howo tipper trucks; and one-Man Diesel low-bed truck carrying an excavator, were seized.
All the suspects have been handed over to the Damongo Regional Police for investigations and prosecution, while the seized equipment have been deposited at the Mole National Park which is under the management of the Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission.
The Yakombo Forest Reserve, which was established in 1974, is the largest in Ghana and covers an area of approximately 1,210km2.
Meanwhile, as the BBC moves the home of its Focus on Africa Podcast to Nairobi, GhanaWeb's Etsey Atisu connected with the host for an exclusive interview on The Lowdown. Watch it here:
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