The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has launched an operation at the Atwima Mponua Forest Reserve in the Ashanti Region, seizing equipment belonging to illegal miners.
The team, comprising troops from the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Ghana Army and Forestry Commission representatives, conducted the exercise at Anhwiafutu in the Nkawie Forest District.
Upon arrival, the illegal miners and armed thugs, who had constructed makeshift structures, fled the scene, abandoning equipment that was subsequently seized or destroyed by the task force.
The team destroyed items including five changfan machines, fuel pumps, excavator engines, seven water pumping machines, and some personal belongings.
The task force also retrieved and immobilized 9 excavators, seized 2 Toyota Hilux pickups and a Nissan pickup, all of which were concealed in the forest.
Additionally, based on intelligence, a house suspected of hosting Chinese nationals involved in illegal mining was raided. It was confirmed that 12 Chinese individuals had been residing in the house but fled at dawn upon the raid.
Meanwhile, a search of the house yielded 18 excavator batteries, 31 buckets of grease, 7 gas cylinders, one mini car washing machine, and one excavator radiator.
Due to the lack of a low-bed truck to transport them, the 9 seized excavators were immobilized on-site.
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