Some of the suspectsÂ
An abandoned mobile phone left behind purportedly by a fleeing illegal miner has led to the arrest of nine foreign nationals who are allegedly neck-deep in illegal mining activities.
The mobile phone was discovered during an intense operation by the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) at a suburb of Dadieso known locally as ‘Niger’ in the Western North Region.
The NAIMOS operatives used a device to unlock the phone and uncovered communications linked to a contact saved as “Boss Lii” on a WhatsApp platform allegedly belonging to illegal miners.
The exchanges pointed to direct coordination by foreign nationals in the illegal business.
Acting on the critical lead, the NAIMOS operatives tracked and apprehended nine Chinese nationals, all males, and escorted them to multiple sites for on ground corroboration of their involvement.
The officers’ operations, carried out on December 6, 2025, also uncovered a vast illegal mining concession hidden within a dense vegetation close to the Bia River in the Suaman Dadieso District of the region.
The thirty-one member task force also entered the Kwabena Lantey and Suibo operational zones in the late morning and worked deep into the night.
Evidence at the scene showed operators had been tipped off ahead of time, as several excavators were hurriedly concealed in the bush and their control boards removed in an attempt to prevent seizure.
The operatives documented degraded sections of the Bia River and dismantled makeshift mining structures that had served as accommodation and processing shelters.
In the course of the operation, NAIMOS also seized key equipment and materials used to sustain illegal mining activities.
They included two 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.
A four-member NAIMOS escort team later transported all nine apprehended Chinese foreign nationals to NAIMOS Headquarters for formal investigations.
NAIMOS officers disclosed that an anonymous caller attempted to bribe the team with an offer of GH¢2,700,000 in exchange for the release of the detained foreign nationals.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi