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The Koforidua Circuit Court B has sentenced 13 persons to prison custody for a total of 39 years after they were caught mining illegally in the Atewa Forest in the Eastern Region.

The 13 illegal miners who were jailed three years each, were also slapped with a total fine of GH¢312,000 (Ghc24,000 each).

The 13, after pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit crime and mining without a license, were sentenced on their own plea by the court presided over by Miss Mercy Adei – Kotei.

The Assistant State Attorney, Cyril Boateng Keteku, who presented the facts of the case to the court, indicated that the convicts were arrested by a Task-force of the Forestry Services Commission of Ghana at Akwatia in the Denkyembuor District of the Eastern Region.

The convicts are William Agyapong, Prince Awuni, Bernard Darkwah, Kwaku Adu, Kwame Kodom, Kofi Nketia and Isaac Amo, Kwabena Yaw Boye, Samuel Ayisi, Samuel Ayisi, Jonas Ametor, Anthony Lolome and James Narh.

They are said to have degraded a vast portion of lands in the area.

Government has been on a vigorous campaign against illegal mining to save water bodies, forest reserves and the environment in general.