The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations (NAIMOS) Taskforce has arrested eight armed individuals who were allegedly impersonating members of an official anti-galamsey unit in the Western Region.
The suspects — seven men and one woman — were apprehended on Wednesday, December 10, 2025, at Wassa Juabo in the Amenfi Central District.
According to insiders, the group had been posing as an anti-galamsey taskforce and extorting money from illegal miners under the guise of offering protection and making false assurances.
Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, Elikem Kotoko, who announced the arrest in a Facebook post, said NAIMOS officers retrieved a pump-action shotgun, 18 cartridges, and two jackknives during the operation.
The suspects have been identified as Isaac Adam, Razak Issah, Samuel Nana Yaw Baffoe, Alex Anyimah, Beginning Amoako, Julie Tofah, Michael Owusu, and Dominic Akakpo.
They are expected to be handed over to the Ghana Police Service for further investigation and prosecution.
NAIMOS has cautioned individuals against impersonating anti-galamsey operatives, warning that anyone found engaging in such acts will face the full rigours of the law.
The arrest comes just two days after a separate intelligence-led operation on Monday, December 8, in the Adanse Anomabo village of the Bosome Freho District in the Ashanti Region.
The operation followed petitions from the local cocoa farmers’ association, who complained about illegal miners invading cocoa plantations.
At the illegal mining site, known as the Kakra site, NAIMOS officers found extensive destruction of cocoa farms, a situation that had caused outrage among farmers.
Although the miners fled upon noticing the taskforce’s approach, the officers destroyed tools, equipment, and other items left behind. Six excavators at the site were immobilized due to the absence of low-bed transport services.
Officers also seized a pump-action gun and seven cartridges.
Several makeshift structures serving as hideouts for the miners were demolished and set ablaze, while pipe hoses at the site were completely burnt.
