Elikem Kotoko, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, has announced that the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) Taskforce has arrested a galamsey kingpin after attempting to bribe officers with GH¢20,000.
According to the Deputy CEO of the Forestry Commission, the incident occurred on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at the Cape Three Points forest reserve.
Elikem Kotoko detailed that while the NAIMOS officers were moving a seized excavator from the forest to the road, an individual suspected to be a Galamsey Kinpin named Bright Mensah claimed to be the owner of the excavators, onboard a white Pickup approached one of the Taskforce members to bribe him to release the excavators.
The suspected galamsey Kinpin Bright Mensah, and four (4) other illegal miners were later traced to the Kinpin’s galamsey site and subsequently arrested by the Task Force.
In a post shared by Elikem Kotoko, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, he detailed, “NAIMOS Seizes Excavators and Arrests Galamseyer who attempted to bribe the Taskforce and Four (4) others at Cape Three Points. Saturday, January 31, 2026
The NAIMOS Taskforce operating in the Ahanta West Municipality continued its crackdown on illegal mining activities on Saturday, 31 January 2026, resisting an attempted bribe by a Galamsey Kinpin and causing his arrest at *Cape three point* general area in the *Ahanta West Municipality*.
At about 0840 hrs, the task force raided several illegal mining sites within the Cape Three Points forest reserve, where there had been vast destruction of the forests by the illegal miners. The Task force subsequently burnt several makeshift structures and illegal mining equipment seen at sites.
As part of the operations, the Team retrieved two (2) Excavators which had been immobilised by taking their monitors and hidden at the site by the illegal miners. The NAIMOS operators managed to recover the immobilised excavators and made arrangements to convey the excavators to the NAIMOS equipment holding area at Takoradi.
However, whiles on the movement of the excavators from the forest to the road for onward movement to the Takoradi Base, an individual suspected to be a Galamsey Kinpin named *BRIGHT MENSAH* who claimed to be owner of the excavators, onboard a white Pickup with Registration Number *GT 8299-24* approached one of the Taskforce members to bribe him to release the excavators with a sum of Twenty Thousand Ghana Cedis (Ghc20,000).
The suspected Kinpin, *Bright Mensah*, and four (4) other illegal miners who were later traced to Bright Mensah’s galamsey site were subsequently arrested by the Task Force and handed over to the *Abura Police station* in the *Agona Nkwanta district*. The suspect’s white Pickup vehicle was also seized by the task force” his post concluded.
In related news, the Ghana Police Service has announced they have arrested twenty-two (22) Togolese nationals engaging in illegal mining activities galamsey.
According to the Police, the suspects were arrested within the West Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region.
In a social media post on X shared by the Ghana Police on January 23, 2026, read, “POLICE ARREST 22 FOREIGN NATIONALS FOR SUSPECTED ILLEGAL MINING ACTIVITIES.
The Savannah Regional Police Intelligence Department has arrested twenty-two (22) Togolese nationals suspected of involvement in illegal mining activities within the West Gonja Municipality of the Savannah Region.
The arrest was effected on 23rd January 2026 when a team of police officers intercepted a Kia truck with registration number BA 223-12. The vehicle was being driven by suspect Abdul Majeed Yakubu”.
See the post below: