The National Security Secretariat in the Ashanti Region has raised concerns over the continued activities of illegal miners operating near the Obuasi Airport despite recent enforcement actions against them.
An inspection by the Secretariat revealed extensive environmental destruction in the area, with heavy earth-moving equipment used to create deep pits across the landscape. Some excavators were also found actively operating, days after a crackdown by security authorities.
Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator, Alhaji Abdullah Nje, said the Secretariat, in collaboration with the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS), seized nine excavators from the site on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, as part of efforts to halt illegal mining activities.
He explained that some of the seized machines had been partially dismantled during the operation, but operators managed to replace the missing parts and return them to work.
“Last week, National Security and NAIMOS came to conduct an operation here, where we picked up about nine excavators and removed parts from about three of them that were on site. But today, on our way here, we saw three of the machines still working,” he said.
He added that further checks showed the machines were among those that had been disabled during the enforcement exercise.
“They found ways to get other parts, fixed the machines, and brought them back to work. That is what is happening,” he said.
The Regional Security Coordinator noted that efforts were ongoing to retrieve the replacement parts and ensure that the miners do not resume operations in the area.
The Secretariat’s inspection forms part of broader measures by security agencies to clamp down on illegal mining activities, particularly in areas where mining poses risks to public infrastructure and the environment.
