Ghanaian security forces arrested 164 people last week in a new crackdown on the illegal small-scale gold mining known as “galamsey.” Many of those detained are foreigners, mostly from West African countries but none from China.

The government’s renewed efforts to curtail rampant illegal mining come in response to the recent re-arrest of Chinese national Aisha Huang, aka “the Galamsey Queen.” Huang’s connections within the government and business community apparently allowed her to re-enter the country and continue mining illegally even after she was deported in 2018. This revelation has been a huge embarrassment for the government.

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