The operational crackdown by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) in the Ahanta West Municipality entered its fifth day on Sunday, February 1, with a series of raids on entrenched galamsey sites that had devastated palm plantations, farmlands, and heavily polluted rivers in the affected communities.

The NAIMOS Task Force began the day’s operations at about 12:55 hours with a raid on an illegal mining site at Fiatsi in Ahanta West. The illegal miners were spotted from a distance actively working within the Butre River but fled upon the arrival of the task force.

Nonetheless, the team successfully disrupted the activities and seized one tipper truck and one payloader which had been used and abandoned at the site.

In addition, twenty (20) chanfang machines, several water pumping machines, gold washing platforms and other illegal mining equipment found at the site were destroyed by burning.

At about 14:20 hours, the task force continued its operations with a raid on another illegal mining site at Ahanta Anyinase. There, the illegal miners were again observed mining directly in the Butre River using heavy industrial pumping machines, which had caused extensive pollution.

The miners had also destroyed large areas of palm plantations within the enclave. Following the escape of the miners, the task force destroyed the industrial pumping machines and other illegal mining equipment at the site by burning.

An excavator abandoned at the location was immobilised by removing its monitor and other vital components due to the unavailability of lowbed services.

The task force further extended its operations at about 17:01 hours by raiding an illegal mining site known as Morrison within the forest. As with the earlier sites, the illegal miners fled upon seeing the approaching task force vehicles.

The task force subsequently burnt five (5) pumping machines and destroyed several water hoses and makeshift structures erected by the galamseyers to support their activities.

From Morrison, the team moved at about 17:25 hours to raid another illegal mining site at Agona Banso, also within the Ahanta West Municipality. At this location, illegal mining activities had caused severe destruction to forest areas and heavily polluted nearby streams.

The task force immobilised two (2) excavators by removing their monitors and other vital components to render them inoperative.

By the close of the day’s operations at about 20:30 hours, the task force had swept through and flushed out several illegal miners across the Ahanta West area, significantly weakening the operational capacity of the galamseyers.

The task force observed that many mining sites had been abandoned due to the sustained presence of NAIMOS personnel in the municipality. The task force will therefore continue to maintain a strong presence in the area to prevent the return of illegal miners.

As the operational raids intensify, NAIMOS reiterates the need for adequate logistical support, including robust patrol vehicles, motorbikes, surveillance equipment such as drones and body cameras, and other essential resources.

The timely provision of these logistics will greatly enhance the achievement of NAIMOS’s operational objectives.

Despite logistical challenges, NAIMOS remains committed to sustaining pressure on illegal miners across all identified hotspots through the continuous deployment of task forces.

In addition, the Secretariat will progressively deploy permanent static forces, within available capacity, to designated locations in line with its strategic deployment plan.