Residents turn to community patrols as illegal gold mining grows in Ghana

JEMA, Ghana — As day broke in a remote part of western Ghana, a priest, farmers and other residents combed through the forests, looking for signs of illegal gold mining.

They have done this for the past year as part of a grassroots task force created to combat the mining that has poisoned rivers in one of the world's largest gold producing countries.

The group is also driven by the sight of Ghana's unemployed youth being attracted to illegal mining and the elusive promise of quick wealth. Meanwhile, the economy suffers: Ghana has lost $11.4 billion in the last five years to gold smuggling, the development nonprofit Swissaid said this year.

The task force's 14 members call themselves the Jema Anti-Galamsey Advocacy, and their arrests of suspected illegal miners have sparked debate in Gha