By Rorisang Modiba
- Two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan were caught with live ants stuffed in cotton-filled test tubes.
- A Kenyan court sentenced them to one year in jail or a R140,371 fine each for wildlife trafficking.
Four men who tried to sneak thousands of rare queen ants out of Kenya have been jailed for a year or must pay a hefty fine.
The group—two Belgians, a Vietnamese national, and a Kenyan—were caught with more than 5,000 ants packed tightly in test tubes lined with cotton wool.
Some of the insects were giant African harvester ants, known to cost up to R4,010.60 each on the collectors’ market.
The court heard how the Vietnamese man, Duh Hung Nguyen, acted as the “courier”, while the Kenyan man, Dennis Ng’ang’a, was the “broker” who sourced the ants from his village.
One of the Belgians, Lornoy David, told the court he didn’t know it was illegal and said he kept ten ant colonies at home. The other, Seppe Lodewijckx, claimed he just had an interest in insects.
Magistrate Njeri Thuku didn’t buy the excuses. She said the number of ants found showed this was not just a casual hobby but a real threat to nature.
“Many animal species are already gone because of human greed,” she warned, adding that it was time to put a stop to it.
The Kenya Wildlife Service praised the court’s decision, saying it sends a strong message that Kenya is serious about wildlife protection—even when it comes to tiny creatures like ants.
Pictured above: The ant smuggling gang.
Image source: @Kenyajudiciary
