A Sekondi magistrate court will today hear a case involving five Chinese illegal miners who were arrested last Friday.

They were arrested for engaging in illegal mining activities in River Ankobra, one of the main water sources in the Western Region.

The court remanded them into prison custody following their arrest pending the hearing of the case today.

The Chinese suspects were identified as Dong Cheng, 30; Hung Jian, 51; Ning Guorui, 42; Yin Biquiang, 46 and Li Zilong, 44.

According to the Western Regional Police Command, the suspects, upon arrest, claimed they had already transferred the gold mined last Thursday to another Chinese migrant identified as Wang Weng, who is based in Wassa Akropong in the Amenfi East District.

“They claimed the proceeds realised from the illegal operations, had also been transferred to China, their home country, following the transaction with their counterpart".

An operation by the Western Regional Police Command to flush out illegal miners engaged in the unending illegal mining business in river bodies in the region led to the arrest of the five Chinese nationals.

“They were busily mining gold in River Ankobra with impunity without any regard to environmental challenges, or legal requirements,” the police said.

The Chinese were reportedly spotted mining in the river in two communities identified as Bamiankor and Duwale – in the Gwira areas of the region.

In a related development, five Ghanaians, who were also engaged in the illegal activity in another concession, were also busted by the police.

They are: Eric Owusu, 28; KwabenaAdjei, 50; Nana Adu, 42; Kwasi Owusu, 28, and Kofi Darko, 21.