Two excavators seized by the District Chief Executive for Ellembelle in the Western region have disappeared from the custody of the Ellembelle Police Command.
The excavators were seized on the orders of the DCE on Wednesday, this week, for engaging in illegal mining, also known as galamsey. The excavators were subsequently handed over to the Police, but could not be found since yesterday, when the DCE decided to check on the seized equipment.
Speaking to news men at the site where the equipment were seized, DCE Kwasi Bonzo expressed disgust over the development.
According to the DCE, when the excavators were seized and handed over to the police, he called the Police Command who was reluctant to guard the equipment, with the explanation that they did not have enough men.
However, the command later agreed to assign two officers to guard the seized equipment, but on condition that they would guard it to 6pm. By the next morning, the seized excavators had disappeared into thin air.
How the seized excavators disappeared from the custody of the police is unknown. This led to the DCE expressing his disgust over the development, saying it appears illegal mining has become an organised crime, with too many actors fighting those fighting the canker.
At the site where the excavators were seized, it became clear that the one behind the illegal mining had been at the site not long enough.
Other equipment discovered at the site was set ablaze by DCE Kwasi Bonzo, when he led journalists to the site.
BACKGROUND
This is not the first time seized excavators have gone missing in the country. It will be recalled that, The Chronicle, sometime in 2020 reported that seized galamsey excavators on its way to Accra had vanished.
Also, in the same year, news broke about the disappearance of some 500 excavators seized by the Operation Vanguard, an operational team made up of various security personnel to fight galamsey.
The then sector Minister, Mr John Peter Amewu, who sanctioned the seizure directed them to be parked at the premises of the various Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs).
Days after the police had effected the arrest of some six people in connection with the disappeared earth-moving machines, hundreds of them miraculously found their way to the collection centre.
