"The leadership of this joint effort can assure the nation that it has prepared the officers for this unique task", the IGP said.
"Honourable ministers, I want to assure the communities we will be deploying that, everyone should be free to go about his or her normal duties.
"The deployment is not a force to intimidate anybody but rather a force to stop unacceptable behaviour that we all as citizens abhor.
"I will like to thank the government for this bold effort to save our land, forests and water resources," Mr Apeatu said.
The IGP said he was confident that the multi-targeted approach adopted by Operation Vanguard will end galamsey.
Four hundred security men drawn from the Ghana Police Service and the Ghana Army are expected to be deployed to counter the activities of illegal miners as part of Operation Vanguard in the Ashanti, Western and Eastern regions of the country.
