Director of Operations for the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), Col Dominic Buah, has rendered a detailed account of arrests and seizures recorded in ongoing efforts to combat illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey.

Speaking at the NAIMOS Editors’ Forum and quarterly press briefing at the Press Centre in Accra on Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Col Buah, while giving a detailed account, said that 94 excavators have been seized and 237 arrests made.

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He further disclosed that several arrests and seizures have been made as part of ongoing operations to clamp down on illegal mining.

“94 excavators so far have been seized and secured in our location. Almost 3,000 changfans destroyed. Arrests: We have 237. The majority of them are foreigners,” he revealed.

Col Buah also highlighted what he described as a strong operational success rate by NAIMOS in tackling galamsey activities.

“Then, you have seen a strike rate of 87.7. Anytime we move to the field, and we meet one of the key parameters, the things we do, the seizures, the arrests, and the destruction, we count it as positive. That determines the strike rate,” he said.

He noted that beyond outright seizures, operatives have also resorted to immobilising excavators found at illegal mining sites due to logistical challenges.

He added that the presence of heavy-duty equipment at illegal mining sites has significantly reduced in recent operations.

“I must tell you that in the Galamsey site, the number of excavators is going down drastically. We used to meet 10 to 20 excavators. But now, you hardly meet any of them. The ones you meet there are already immobilised,” he added.

On the issue of seized vehicles, NAIMOS said they are being redirected into official operations after due legal processes.

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“For the vehicles seized, we push them into other legal operations once they are formally seized by the Attorney General's department so that we pull the resources together and get this canker eliminated,” he explained.

MAG/VPO

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