The Inspector-General of Police’s Special Anti-Galamsey Task Force has impounded two excavators during an operation at Dwendwenase, near Juaso, in the Asante Akim South Constituency of the Ashanti Region.
The exercise, carried out on Saturday, August 23, 2025, at about 1:30 p.m., formed part of the task force’s ongoing operations against illegal mining.
A team of thirty-seven personnel, led by ASP Bawah Abdul Jalil and supported by six service vehicles, conducted the swoop after intelligence reports indicated that Chinese nationals had invaded portions of the Dwendwenase Forest Reserve to engage in illegal mining.
According to the task force, the suspects fled upon sighting the police, leaving behind two heavy-duty excavators.
One of the machines was faulty and could not be moved, but the other was successfully loaded onto a low-bed carrier.
While returning to base, the team received additional intelligence about another excavator hidden in a cocoa farm at Atta Ne Atta, a nearby village.
The operator had allegedly tampered with its components to prevent it from being relocated.
However, the task force’s technical unit managed to restart the machine, which was also loaded onto the low-bed carrier.
Both excavators were later transported to the police base at Patase for safekeeping and further action.
The operation was coordinated by the Special Anti-Galamsey Task Force stationed at Manso Adubia, which has been conducting daily raids across illegal mining hotspots in the Ashanti Region.
