The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has arrested a group of armed thugs who were parading as an anti-galamsey task force in the Nyankamam Armoyi Forest within the Aowin Municipality of the Western North Region.
The arrest, which took place Wednesday night, followed a three-day unsuccessful operation by NAIMOS personnel in the region.
The seven suspects, who claimed to have links with the Aowin Paramount Chief, were reportedly operating with impunity, extorting money from illegal miners and, in effect, encouraging galamsey activities in the area.
In a related operation, the NAIMOS Task Force conducted a deliberate night raid on a notorious galamsey site at Armouri in the same municipality.
The team apprehended seven illegal miners and set ablaze several makeshift structures, including a shrine believed to be controlled by one of the miners.
Items seized during the operation included two pump action guns and thirty three cartridges.
The arrested thugs, along with their weapons and talismans, are expected to be handed over to the Ghana Police Service for further investigation and prosecution.