Ten people, including a chief and two minors, have been arraigned at the Koforidua High Court for allegedly mining without licence at Akyem Gyadam, near Oda, in the Eastern Region.
The accused persons are the Gyaasehene of Gyadam, Nana Mireku Asare Bediako III, who faces additional charge of granting access to the illegal miners to carry out their illicit operations, as well as the two minors, namely Salim Moro and Samuel Appiah, both aged 17 years.
The rest are Shaibu Moro, George Boahen, Shaibu Moro, Bright Adjei, Emmanuel Anarfi, Samuel Amparbeng and Richmond Akomaning
They were arrested by the Akyem Oda Divisional Police Command for illegally mining at Akyem Gyadam, near Oda, in the Eastern Region.
The accused persons have all been granted bail and are to re-appear on July 31, this year.
Briefing the Daily Graphic at Oda last Thursday, the Oda Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Jeffrey Darko, said upon a tip off, police personnel raided the outskirts of Gyadam where the suspects were mining for gold without licence.
In a related development to crack the whip on illegal mining, the Western Central Regional Police Command also arrested two men for allegedly posing as members of the Ghana Gold Board Taskforce and using their false identities to extort money from unsuspecting gold dealers.
The suspects, Foster Delord, 40, and Prince Worvi, 38, were apprehended after the police received a tip-off that the pair were making rounds at gold buying shops, claiming to be government-sanctioned operatives.
