Galamsey kingpin arrested after attempting to bribe NAIMOS taskforce with GH¢20,000

A suspected galamsey kingpin has been arrested in the Ahanta West Municipality after allegedly attempting to bribe members of the National Anti-Illegal Mining Operations Secretariat (NAIMOS) Taskforce with GH¢20,000 to secure the release of seized excavators.

According to a statement from Elikem Kotoko, the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission, the incident occurred on Saturday, January 31, 2026, during an operation by the NAIMOS Taskforce at the Cape Three Points forest reserve, an area heavily affected by illegal mining activities.

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"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," he wrote on Facebook on Sunday, February 1, 2026.

He said the operation began at about 8:40am, when the taskforce raided several illegal mining sites within the forest reserve and destroyed illegal mining infrastructure, as well as disabling equipment found at the sites during the raid.

"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 immobilized by taking their monitors and hidden at the site by the illegal miners. The NAIMOS operators managed to recover the immobilized excavators and made arrangements to convey the excavators to the NAIMOS equipment holding area at Takoradi," he continued.

Kotoko added that the NAIMOS taskforce later arranged to move the excavators to the NAIMOS equipment holding area in Takoradi, at the same time the alleged bribery attempt occurred.

"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 Kingpin 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 (GH¢20,000)," he added.

The suspect, Bright Mensah, was subsequently arrested along with four other individuals linked to his illegal mining operations.

His vehicle was also seized during the attempted bribery.

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"The suspected Kingpin, ‘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," he concluded.

MAG/AE

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