- The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has secured the Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve in a bold and professionally executed operation currently underway in the Ashanti Region.
- On Wednesday, 17 September 2025, the NAIMOS Task Force, in close collaboration with troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Army and representatives from the Forestry Commission (FC), conducted an operation at Anhwiafutu in the Nkawie Forest District of the Offin Shelter Belt in the Ashanti Region.
- Acting on tightly guarded local intelligence, the NAIMOS-led force arrived in the area at dawn, spotting clear excavator tracks throughout the community. The marks indicated that several machines had been moved out of the area just hours before the team’s arrival. Upon reaching the forest, the task force found evidence of massive illegal mining across different parts of the reserve.
- Some illegal miners fled on sighting the task force. The team subsequently conducted a series of raids within the forest, destroying several makeshift structures. The operation resulted in the following seizures:
- 9 excavators (retrieved and immobilized),
- 2 Toyota Hilux pickups,
- 1 Nissan pickup,
all of which had been concealed in the forest.
- The task force also set ablaze and destroyed:
- 5 Chanfang machines,
- several personal belongings,
- fuel dumps,
- old excavator engines,
- 7 water pumping machines belonging to the illegal miners.
- The team further raided a house in the area suspected to have accommodated some foreign Chinese illegal miners. NAIMOS investigations confirmed that 12 Chinese nationals had been residing in the house but had fled at dawn. A search of the premises revealed the following items:
- 18 excavator batteries,
- 31 buckets of grease,
- 7 gas cylinders,
- 1 mini car-washing machine,
- 1 excavator radiator.
- The 9 seized excavators were immobilized due to the unavailability of low-bed trucks to transport them out of the community.
Below are some pictures and videos of the day’s activities.
