Officials from the Forestry Commission, in collaboration with personnel from the Ghana Armed Forces, have stormed an illegal mining hub located within the Subri Forest Reserve in the Western Region. The operation, carried out in the early hours of Tuesday, April 5, 2025, uncovered a host of illicit activities.
Makeshift mining structures, brothels, and shelters were destroyed, and several victims of trafficking—some of them young foreign nationals—were rescued. Many had reportedly been forced into prostitution and drug abuse.
Western Regional Forestry Manager, Nana Kwabena Bosompim, who led the team, described the scene as an eyesore.
“The place is full of illegal miners with all manner of activities going on. We’ve seen incidents of child trafficking, child prostitution, drug abuse, money laundering, and more,” he told journalists after the raid.
He also disclosed that young women from Nigeria, Mali, Niger, and Guinea had been trafficked into the area under false pretenses of gainful employment, only to be lured into the sex trade.
“We’re told young girls nowadays don’t even want to go to school—they want to be here to make money through prostitution. And that is very bad,” Bosompim said.
The Commission revealed that illegal mining activities in the Subri enclave have caused significant environmental devastation, including polluted rivers, deep uncovered pits, and extensive deforestation.
He further revealed that the number of miners encountered far exceeded expectations.
“We thought we’d find about 2,000 miners here. But by morning, we estimated over 10,000. We couldn’t even make arrests because the number of people wouldn’t fit in our vehicles,” he added.
Source: Ghana/StarrFM 103.5FM/Tutuwaa Danso
