The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has issued a renewed and stern warning to illegal miners, declaring that authorities will intensify enforcement actions against anyone found engaging in galamsey outside approved structures.

Director of Operations at NAIMOS, Col. Dominic Buah, delivered the caution at the NAIMOS Editors’ Forum and quarterly press briefing held at the Press Centre in Accra on Wednesday, March 25.

“As I said in August last year, you have no business going into Galamsey,” he stated.

Col. Buah explained that the government is introducing a structured alternative through cooperative mining, which he said offers a lawful pathway for those seeking to operate within the sector.

He emphasised that once the cooperative framework becomes fully operational, any individual found engaging in illegal mining activities would face decisive enforcement.

“Once the cooperatives commence, anybody who will see where they are not supposed to be, we will come ruthlessly after them,” he warned.

The NAIMOS director described illegal miners as a major threat to the country, reiterating their commitment to rooting them out.

“They still remain the number one enemy of the state, and NAIMOS will smoke them out from wherever they are hiding,” he declared.

Col. Buah used the opportunity to call for sustained public and media support in the fight against illegal mining, stressing that collective action is critical to addressing the challenge.

“Once again, let me take the chance on behalf of the Honourable Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, the Honourable Armah Kofi Buah. Thank you all for your audience, and I urge you to continue to put us on our toes, give us the information so that we can collectively fight this canker of illegal mining,” he said.