NAIMOS expands crackdown on illegal mining equipment supply network

The National Anti-illegal Mining Secretariat (NAIMOS) has intercepted 65 brand new Changfang machines on suspicion they are intended for water polluting-galamsey activities in the Nzema East and Aowin municipalities in the Western and Western North regions.

Two persons involved in the transport and intended receipt of the equipment have been arrested and handed over to the Enchi Police Station for further investigation.

NAMIOS says the seized equipment and vehicles have been secured pending further investigations to establish their source, intended destination and any possible connection to illegal mining activities in the intended areas.

The closest use for these Changfang motors is the fufu pounding machine. But majority of these machines are not meant for pounding fufu.

They find their way unto platforms sitting directly on waterbodies, turning sediments for gold.

On Monday, NAIMOS impounded a truck loaded with 22 brand-new chanfang machines at Eshaem in the Nzema East Municipality.

Two days later, it recorded another major breakthrough in its emerging strategy to dismantle the supply networks sustaining illegal mining.

In the latest operation, a NAIMOS Task Force operating from Enchi intercepted another truck at Akontombra Nkwanta in the Aowin District of the Western North Region while personnel were proceeding towards Juaboso for an anti-illegal mining operation.

A search of the vehicle uncovered a substantial consignment of equipment commonly associated with illegal mining operations, 43 chanfang machines, 28 water pumps, 28 large plastic pans, reinforced hoses, heavy-duty hoses, shafts, hammers, Wellington boots, raincoats, blowtorches, and other components used to assemble and operate mining machinery.

Two vehicles, including the truck transporting the equipment and a Toyota Corolla, were also taken into custody as part of ongoing investigations.

The Akontombra Nkwanta interception occurred just two days after the 25 October NAIMOS operation at Eshaem, during which personnel destroyed 28 chanfang machines, 19 water pumps, and five makeshift structures as enforcement operations extended towards the Ankobra River.

The latest interception reinforces intelligence that illegal mining operations are sustained by organised supply chains capable of replacing equipment destroyed during enforcement operations.