Six Chinese nationals have been arrested by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) after a dawn raid exposed an active galamsey operation along the Nyaase River, a tributary of the Tano River, at Kunsu Gyaenkontabuo in the Ahafo Ano South-West District of the Ashanti Region on Saturday, April 18, 2026.
The intelligence-led operation, launched at approximately 8:20 in the morning, began with the arrest of a single suspect at the mining site. That individual was then directed to lead the task force to a nearby residence used as a hideout, a move that proved decisive. A search of the premises led to the arrest of the remaining five foreign nationals and the recovery of evidence confirming what NAIMOS described as an armed criminal enterprise.
Two pump-action guns and 102 rounds of ammunition were found at the residence, alongside a Toyota Tacoma vehicle, assorted identification documents, passports, mobile phones, and 60,000 Ghana cedis recovered from a black polythene bag.
At the mining site itself, the task force observed extensive destruction of land along the riverbanks. Two excavators were immobilised through the removal of their control boards, monitors and hydraulic pumps. A NAIMOS excavator operator was deployed on site to dismantle a metallic gold-washing platform, while a wooden washing platform, makeshift structures, a heavy-duty water pumping machine, Changfan machines and water hoses were destroyed by burning. One tricycle, locally known as an aboboyaa, was also seized.
All six suspects and seized items have since been conveyed to NAIMOS Headquarters. The foreign nationals have additionally been handed over to the Ghana Immigration Service for regulatory and legal processing.
NAIMOS described the recovery of firearms and ammunition in the hands of foreign illegal miners as a matter of grave national security concern, noting that the Minerals and Mining Act does not permit foreigners to engage in small-scale mining, let alone armed operations within water bodies.
Between June 2025 and March 2026, NAIMOS recorded 237 arrests across 21 operational zones covering seven illegal mining-prone regions, with the majority of those arrested being foreign nationals including Chinese citizens. The Ashanti Region arrest adds to a growing pattern of intelligence-led operations uncovering armed networks behind galamsey activities across the country.
