NAIMOS bust galamsey syndicate at Ntabanu and Nyameadom, 7 arrested

The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) dismantled an organised multinational galamsey syndicate on Saturday, May 2, within the communities of Ntabanu and Nyameadom in Mankraso, in the Ahafo Ano South West District of the Ashanti Region. The operation led to the arrest of three Chinese nationals and four Ghanaian operators, as well as the seizure of four motor vehicles, one excavator, and a tricycle. The operation commenced as a routine patrol within the Mankraso operational corridor when taskforce operatives intercepted a brown Zonda pickup vehicle being driven at high speed away from a galamsey site at Ntabanu.

The driver, established to be a Chinese national, was attempting to leave the area in reaction to news of the taskforce's presence. At Nyameadom, the task force intercepted a second syndicate comprising two Chinese nationals and four Ghanaian operators who were attempting to escape the area. The illegal miners were hastening to escape due to the devastation they had caused to large stretches of farmland and the pollution of the River Mankran. The syndicate was moving in a convoy of three vehicles: a Nissan Navara, a Nissan Oting, and a Toyota Hilux. The first arrest at Ntabanu was that of Su Zhoxiang, a Chinese national aged 43 years. The remaining six arrests were made at Nyameadom and comprised Wei Renguang, aged 54 years, Tan Shishian, aged 50 years, Kumi Richard, aged 34 years, Justice Nkrumah, aged 37 years, Emmanuel Nyeri, aged 25 years, and Francis Mintah, aged 23 years. An amount of GH₵2,750 was retrieved at Ntabanu.

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