The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) Task Force has intensified its nationwide clampdown on illegal mining, extending its operations to the Bonsa River in the Tarkwa Nsuem Municipality of the Western Region.

In a joint exercise with the Blue Water Guards from the Nzema East District, the Task Force descended on Bonsa town, where the river originates.

Illegal miners, popularly known as galamseyers, fled upon sighting the operatives, but their abandoned sites and equipment were swiftly dismantled and destroyed.

Prior to arriving at the Bonsa River, NAIMOS operatives conducted multiple raids on illegal mining sites along the Anyenase–Kaku–Suazo road in Nzema East.

That operation led to:

Clearing of six (6) illegal mining sites

Burning of twenty (20) Chanfang machines

Seizure of four (4) pumping machines

Burning of five (5) makeshift structures

Seizure of one (1) aboboyaa (motorised tricycle)

Immobilisation of one (1) Sany excavator with three batteries removed

Seizure of one (1) crusher machine

Burning of another aboboyaa transporting mining equipment

On reaching the Bonsa River, the Task Force observed that illegal miners had blocked and redirected the river to facilitate their operations, leaving the water stagnant and heavily polluted.

In response, the team dismantled mining equipment and destroyed makeshift structures erected along the riverbanks.

During the Bonsa River operation, the following were destroyed or confiscated:

Three (3) dredging machines

Fifteen (15) Chanfang machines

Eleven (11) pumping machines

One (1) motorbike

Authorities say the raid forms part of renewed efforts to restore polluted rivers across the country and cripple the operations of illegal miners who continue to devastate water bodies and farmlands.

The NAIMOS Secretariat has reiterated its commitment to sustaining the fight against illegal mining, warning that those who persist in defying the law will have their operations dismantled.