The National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAiMOS) has unleashed a massive crackdown on “Gangway,” a notorious illegal mining and crime-ridden enclave at Aboso in the Prestea-Huni Valley District.
In the early hours of Monday, October 5, 2025, a heavily armed NAiMOS Task Force stormed the area, dismantling makeshift shanties that had long served as hideouts for illegal miners, drug dealers, and gamblers. Thick plumes of smoke rose above the community as dozens of wooden structures and mining equipment were torched in a swift, coordinated offensive.
The swoop sent shockwaves through the area, with hundreds of residents — many believed to be engaged in galamsey and other illicit activities — surrendering to the Task Force without resistance. The operation also uncovered and seized several parcels of hard drugs, including 11 wraps of Indian hemp, signalling the deep entanglement of illegal mining and narcotics in the community’s underground economy.
This latest raid follows an earlier operation in June 2025, when NAiMOS operatives warned miners and criminal gangs to vacate the Gangway. Despite persistent appeals from traditional authorities, including the chiefs of Aboso, the illegal activities had continued unabated — until the Task Force’s decisive intervention this week.
In a related development, NAiMOS teams extended their sweep to the Dadwen-Dompim stretch in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, where 15 water-pumping machines, a generator, and three Chanfangs were seized or destroyed. Other illegal mining structures in the area were also set ablaze as part of the government’s intensified war on galamsey.
