Four persons have been arrested for engaging in illegal sand winning at Afienya in the Greater Accra Region.
The suspects were arrested on Thursday, November 5, when they arrived at the site in three Shacman tipper trucks and encountered an enforcement team from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS).
The team seized the three trucks and arrested the four individuals before handing them over to the Police for further action.
Residents in the area have raised concerns about the activities of illegal sand winners, alleging that operators deploy thugs to intimidate them whenever they complain about the destruction of their land.
Director of Operations at NAIMOS, Colonel K. S. Appiah, assured residents that the Secretariat would sustain its enforcement operations to curb illegal sand winning and protect affected communities.
“In some areas, it is devastating. Land have been degraded all over. Some have done it and left, others are in the process. We will continue with this enforcement to ensure that people with their legitimate land and plantations do not fall prey to the illegal sand winners,” he said.
