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Eight people have been arrested for illegal mining in the Amomaso Forest near Berekum Municipality in Ghana’s Bono Region, after local residents apprehended the suspects and held them pending police arrival, a direct example of the community vigilance that authorities have been urging across the country’s most vulnerable forest areas.
The Berekum Divisional Police arrived at the scene on 20 May 2026 following a community distress call, finding residents who had already detained the suspects. Officers seized a pickaxe, four shovels, a water pumping machine and a woollen carpet reportedly used in gold washing operations. All items were retained as evidence. The eight suspects, ranging in age from 15 to 46, have been detained for further investigation, with authorities preparing the case for prosecution.
The Bono Regional Police Command commended residents for their vigilance and urged the public to continue reporting illegal mining activity. The arrest reflects a pattern that law enforcement and forest conservation officials have been working to reinforce, that the most effective early intervention in galamsey activity comes not from centrally deployed security forces but from communities who live alongside and depend on the forest resources being destroyed.
