NAIMOS arrests Chinese national in anti-illegal mining operation at Dawusaso

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), through its Manso Adubia taskforce, has arrested a Chinese national during an enforcement operation against illegal mining activities at Dawusaso in the Amansie South District of the Ashanti Region.

The operation, conducted between 1130 and 1530 hours on Saturday, May 16, also led to the destruction of several changfan machines mounted directly on the Offin River, disrupting illegal mining activities in the area.

According to NAIMOS, the miners had diverted portions of the Offin River into an artificial dam to facilitate their operations.

The exercise followed credible intelligence on organised illegal mining activities along the Offin corridor.

Acting on the information, the taskforce mobilised from its Manso Adubia base to the location, where operatives encountered several individuals, including women, actively engaged in illegal mining.

The suspects reportedly fled into nearby bushes upon sighting the taskforce, escaping arrest.

However, one Chinese national identified as Xiao Weixin, aged 41 and resident at Dawusaso, was arrested at the scene.

Items retrieved from him included an Apsonic tricycle, two Gota sets and a Huawei mobile phone, all of which have been secured by the taskforce.

Authorities described the diversion of the Offin River into an artificial dam as a serious threat to the ecological balance of the river and to downstream communities that depend on it for domestic use.

During a search of the area, operatives destroyed two changfan machines mounted directly on the river to halt further destruction of the water body.

The taskforce also discovered three abandoned excavators made up of two Caterpillar machines and one Sany machine at the site.

According to NAIMOS, the operators removed the monitors and keys of the machines before fleeing, a tactic often used to prevent seizure.

The chassis numbers of the excavators were also found to be heavily corroded and unreadable, making identification and possible confiscation difficult.

The suspect has since been transported to the NAIMOS Secretariat in Accra for further investigations and is expected to be handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for further action.

In a related development, the taskforce intercepted another group of suspected illegal miners near the Dawusaso road while travelling to the main operation site.

The suspects fled, abandoning a drum of diesel, which has since been retrieved and taken into custody by the operatives.

NAIMOS said the Dawusaso operation demonstrates its continued commitment to tackling illegal mining activities along the Offin River, particularly cases involving the diversion and pollution of water bodies.

The Secretariat assured the public that enforcement operations against destructive mining activities would continue until the integrity of the Offin River is restored.