Ashanti Region: NAIMOS arrests Chinese national, 7 Ghanaians over alleged illegal mining
The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has arrested one Chinese national and seven Ghanaians in an intelligence-led operation against illegal mining activities at Oseikokrom in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region.
The operation, carried out on Thursday, May 21, forms part of intensified nationwide efforts by the Secretariat to clamp down on illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.
In a statement issued on Friday, NAIMOS noted that the suspects attempted to flee upon sensing the approach of the task force but were intercepted and arrested at the mining site.
“The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) task force has intensified its nationwide operations, recording a major success in an intelligence-led operation at Oseikokrom in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region,” the statement read in part.
The arrested suspects include 38-year-old Chinese national Huang Weiye and seven Ghanaian workers identified as Augustine Manu, Kwame Ntoadro, Moses Alou, Alex Lenley, Yaw Owusu, Shaibu Wuni and Patrick Bampoa.
The task force also seized two Toyota Hilux pickups with registration numbers GX 555-24 and CN 5168-26, as well as two excavators believed to have been actively used for illegal mining operations.
NAIMOS said one excavator was transported to its logistics holding area in Kumasi, while the other was immobilised at the site after officers removed its monitor and control board due to difficulties moving it.
A pump-action gun was also retrieved during the operation, while several makeshift structures serving as hideouts for the miners were burnt down.
The Chinese suspect has since been transferred to the headquarters of NAIMOS and handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for further action, while the Ghanaian suspects were handed over to the Antoakrom Police Station to assist with investigations and possible prosecution.
Speaking on the arrest, the Director of Operations at NAIMOS, Colonel Dominic Buah, assured that the Secretariat would sustain the operations across galamsey hotspots nationwide as part of efforts to curb environmental destruction caused by illegal mining.
“The Director further reiterated that the intensified operations and other strategies adopted by NAIMOS are helping to significantly disrupt entrenched illegal mining activities and networks that continue to destroy cocoa farms, forest reserves, and road networks, as well as severely polluting the nation’s water bodies,” the statement added.