Illegal gold mining: 1,412 people arrested in Upper Guinea
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Visionguinee
Guinean defence and security forces arrested 149 illegal gold miners on 7 and 8 November in Kérouané and Siguiri, bringing the total to 1,412 people. According to a joint communiqué from the ministries of Security and Defence, the 1,263 people arrested in Siguiri are to be tried from 10 November.
Guinean defence and security forces arrested 149 illegal gold miners during operations carried out on 7 and 8 November 2026, bringing the total number of people arrested in the campaign against illegal gold mining in Upper Guinea to 1,412. The information appears in a joint communiqué from the Ministry of Security and Civil Protection and the Ministry of National Defence.
According to the communiqué, 100 gold miners of Guinean and foreign nationalities were arrested in the prefecture of Kérouané and 49 others in Siguiri. The 149 newly arrested people have been placed at the disposal of the justice system in Kankan. The 1,263 people arrested in Siguiri, who are the subject of a judicial process, are to be tried from Tuesday 10 November 2026.
The communiqué is signed by General Ahmed Mohamed Oury Diallo, Minister of Security and Civil Protection, and by Ibrahima Khalil Condé, Minister Delegate for National Defence. The two ministries state that anarchic gold mining threatens the environment, public order and sustainable development, and that they will continue the operation across the whole country.
