NAIMOS operatives extended their nationwide anti-illegal mining campaign into the Western North Region on December 6, 2025, delivering one of the most decisive blows yet to illicit mining networks operating near the Bia River in the Suaman Dadieso District.
A 31-member task force entered the Kwabena Lantey and Suibo operational zones in the late morning and worked deep into the night.
Officers uncovered a vast illegal mining concession hidden within dense vegetation close to the Bia River.
Evidence at the scene showed operators had been tipped off ahead of time.
Several excavators had been hurriedly concealed in the bush and their control boards removed in an attempt to prevent seizure.
The proximity of the operation to the river revealed the scale of environmental risk, with clear signs that sediment and toxic discharge had already begun to degrade the water source relied upon by surrounding communities.
The operation intensified at a suburb of Dadieso known locally as Niger, where intelligence unexpectedly surfaced from an abandoned mobile phone left behind by a fleeing suspect.
Using the unlocked device, NAIMOS uncovered communications linked to a contact saved as “Boss Lii” on the WhatsApp platform. These exchanges pointed to direct coordination by foreign nationals.
Acting on this critical lead, operatives tracked and apprehended 9 Chinese nationals, all male, and escorted them to multiple sites for on-ground corroboration of their involvement.
At these locations, officers documented degraded sections of the Bia River and dismantled makeshift mining structures that had served as accommodation and processing shelters.
Several of these structures were destroyed to prevent any attempt at reoccupation.
During the course of the operation, NAIMOS seized key equipment and materials used to sustain illegal mining activities.
These included two (2) excavator filters, a Tecno smartphone, a water pumping machine, a mini car washing machine used for mineral processing, a bottle containing a small quantity of mercury, and a motorbike used to support movement between forested sites. Each item was secured and removed from the operational zone.
In a coordinated post-operation support, a four-member team from the Ghana Integrated Iron and Steel Development Corporation (GIISDEC) arrived on site later in the evening to take custody of scrap metal and heavy equipment remnants.
The team, led by senior officer from GIISDEC, Hannah Arhin, was escorted by NAIMOS operatives to the Suaman Dadieso District Assembly before continuing further inland to Asankragua as part of a wider national scrap recovery process.
As the operation concluded, a four-member NAIMOS escort team transported all nine apprehended Chinese foreign nationals to NAIMOS Headquarters for formal investigations.
The task force also made an official visit to the Dadieso Divisional Police Station, where the Deputy Superintendent of Police provided assurance that the residences linked to the suspects would be secured pending further instructions from property owners.
In a dramatic final development, NAIMOS officers disclosed that an anonymous caller attempted to bribe the team with an offer of two million seven hundred thousand Ghana cedis (2,700,000) in exchange for the release of the detained foreign nationals. The offer was immediately rejected, underscoring the strict discipline and integrity guiding the operation.
Despite exhausting conditions and extended hours of movement, the task force maintained full operational control throughout the mission.
The Director of Operations remained at the centre of strategic oversight, issuing real-time directives remotely and ensuring that field teams acted within mandate and national security priorities.
The Western North operation marked another major victory for NAIMOS, exposing foreign-coordinated illegal mining structures, protecting a critical national water resource, and reinforcing the message that environmental crimes will be met with decisive and uncompromising enforcement.