About 12 illegal miners have been arrested at Pakyi No 1 in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.

This was in a joint police and assembly taskforce operation led by the District Chief Executive (DCE), Nii Lartey Ollenu.

The operation, according to the DCE, follows a tip-off about the operations of the illegal miners in the Namafo forest reserve.

Aside from the arrest, Mr Ollenu said one excavator was also seized from the miners who were working on-site at the time of the arrest.

The excavator, he indicated, has been impounded at the District Assembly office with the suspects in custody and will subsequently be arraigned in court.