In a bold and professionally executed operation, the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has secured the Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region, dealing a heavy blow to illegal mining activities.
Dawn operation in the Ashanti Region
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On Wednesday, 17 September 2025, a NAIMOS Task Force, supported by troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Army and officials from the Forestry Commission (FC), stormed Anhwiafutu in the Nkawie Forest District of the Offin Shelter Belt.
The operation was guided by tight-lipped local intelligence. The joint force arrived at dawn, only to discover visible tracks of heavy excavators across the community.
Signs indicated that several machines had been hastily moved out just hours before the team’s arrival. Upon reaching the forest zone, the Task Force found overwhelming evidence of widespread illegal mining activities.
Galamseyers flee, equipment seized
Some illegal miners fled into hiding when they sighted the Task Force in the Atwima Mponua forest reserve. Undeterred, the team raided multiple sites across the forest, dismantling makeshift mining camps and uncovering concealed equipment.
The operation led to the retrieval and immobilisation of:
9 Excavators
2 Toyota Hilux pickups
1 Nissan pickup
All of the vehicles and machines had been hidden deep within the forest.
Burning of galamsey equipment
To cripple operations at the illegal sites, the Task Force also destroyed and set ablaze:
5 Chanfang machines
Several personal belongings of miners
Fuel dumps
Old excavator engines
7 water pumping machines used to aid mining activities
Raid on suspected Chinese miners’ hideout
In a twist, the team raided a house believed to have accommodated foreign nationals involved in galamsey. NAIMOS investigations revealed that 12 Chinese illegal miners had occupied the building but fled before the dawn operation.
A search in the house uncovered stockpiles of mining-related items, including:
18 excavator batteries
31 buckets of grease
7 gas cylinders
1 mini car washing machine
1 excavator radiator
Excavators immobilised
The nine excavators seized during the operation were immobilised due to the unavailability of low-bed trucks to transport them out of the community.
NAIMOS confirmed that the machines have been rendered inoperable, cutting off a vital resource for illegal mining activities in the forest.
