A team from the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) has carried out a major raid on illegal mining sites at the COCOBOD Demonstration Farm – Section E at Bunso in the Eastern Region.
During the exercise that took place on January 8, the Taskforce found on site 8 Excavators and 12 illegal miners working.
The demonstration farm had been visited twice earlier by NAIMOS to stop the illegal miners from destroying the research farm only for them to return to the same location after a week.
The illegal miners were arrested and handed over to the Ghana Police Service for further investigations and persecution.
The Excavators were seized and have since been conveyed to the NAIMOS equipment Base in Accra.
In a related development, on January 2, 2026, the NAIMOS Taskforce in collaboration with the Nzema East Blue Water Guards have begun a massive crackdown on Galamsey activities along the Ankobra River. The raid operations begun in the Abelebo and Akango communities in the Nzema East Municipality of Western Region.
Several illegal miners numbering about 500 begun fleeing upon sighting the NAIMOS Taskforce to avoid arrest. Subsequently, the Taskforce is currently pursuing the illegal miners, majority of whom have crossed the Ankobra River and entered nearby bushes and villages to escape arrest.
The Joint Taskforce has currently destroyed through burning about 100 x dredging Chanfang platforms, 50 x water pumping machines and several makeshift structures constructed by the illegal miners. The team has also pulled out and destroyed several pipelines linked to the Ankobra River and discharging mining residue into the River thereby causing its pollution.
Additionally, the Taskforce spotted 5 x excavators situated in a pit, about 150m away from the Ankobra River. The excavator machines have since been immobilized by detaching their control boards and monitors to render them ineffective.
NAIMOS remains firmly in control of the situation and continues its pursuit of the illegal miners to rid the communities of the galamsey activities.
