ACCRA, Ghana, June 5 (UPI) -- Ghanaian immigration authorities have arrested 124 Chinese accused of illegal gold mining in the West African country, Chinese Embassy officials confirmed.
The official Xinhua News Agency quoted the head of the Ghana Immigration Service as saying on telephone those arrested were being detained in the capital of Accra. He said they were accused of being involved in illegal gold mining in the central region of Ashanti and in the western and eastern regions of the country.
The report said some of them had overstayed in the country without legal documents.
Xinhua said the Chinese Embassy in Ghana confirmed the arrests. Embassy spokesperson Yu Jie said the Ghanaian government has been urged to ensure the legal rights of the detainees.
"We have cautioned all the Chinese people in Ghana to strictly abide by the related laws and regulations and never to be misled by the unauthorized information in Internet," Yu said.
The Ghanaian government of President John Dramani Mahama has been taking steps to bring an end to the menace of illegal mining in the country, the report said. Ghana is reported to have the second-largest gold deposits in the continent after South Africa.
In October 2012, Ghana freed on bail 101 Chinese similarly suspected of illegal gold mining. Other details of that case were not available.
