Security forces have stepped up their crackdown on illegal mining, making arrests and impounding heavy machinery in coordinated operations across the Ashanti and Western regions over the weekend.
The Special Anti-Galamsey Task Force based at Manso Adubia extended operations to Juaso in the Asante Akim South Municipality on Saturday, where two excavators were seized from illegal mining sites.
A 37-member team, led by ASP Bawah Abdul Jalil, acted on intelligence that foreign nationals had invaded portions of the Dwendwenase Forest Reserve.
Suspects fled on sight, abandoning their equipment. One excavator was faulty and immobile, while the other was successfully loaded onto a low-bed carrier.
Further intelligence led the team to Atta Ne Atta, a nearby village, where another excavator had been hidden on a cocoa farm with its components stripped.
The task force’s technical team managed to restart the machine and transport it for safekeeping.
In the Western Region, joint security teams stormed Adiewoso and Tettrem in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, arresting 12 suspects, including a woman.
Two tricycles, a motorcycle, and 25 chanfang machines were destroyed on-site. The suspects remain in police custody at Agona Nkwanta.
Meanwhile, separate operations in Abelebo and Akango (Nzema East Municipality), led by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) and Nzema Blue Water Guards, resulted in the destruction of 50 additional chanfang machines, polytanks, power generators, pipelines, and makeshift shelters along the Ankobra River.
Western Regional Minister Joseph Nelson said the campaign would be relentless:
“From my observation, when operations are executed, the illegal miners retreat, only to return when they think the coast is clear. We will not relent. We will sustain the fight until the environment is rid of the sins against nature.”
The Western Regional Security Liaison Officer, Brigadier General Musa Whajah (retd), warned that illegal mining is also devastating commercial rubber plantations. Ghana Rubber Estates Limited (GREL) has already lost more than 6,000 hectares, including 2,000 mature trees to galamsey incursions.
He urged continued community engagement to highlight the long-term impact of illegal mining on livelihoods and the environment.
By: J.W Quarm
