Kenya sentences Chinese ant smuggler to year in jail

The authorities found the ants in test tubes stuffed with cotton wool. [KWS, Facebook]

A Chinese national was sentenced Wednesday to a year in prison and fined by a Nairobi court for attempting to smuggle thousands of ants out of Kenya, a lucrative trade exposed in East Africa last year.

The insects are mostly destined for China, the United States, and Europe, where they become pets and can be worth around Sh12,925 ($100) each.

Ant smuggling made headlines last year when two Belgian teens were arrested in possession of nearly 5,000 ants, mostly stored in test tubes, and fined roughly Sh995,225 ($7,700).

Zhang Kequn, who evaded capture until his arrest on March 10, had been linked to another case, involving a Vietnamese and a Kenyan national.

More than 2,200 ants, including 1,948 prized messor cephalotes, were found in test tubes in Zhang's luggage at Nairobi's international airport, destined for China.

He was initially charged with wildlife trafficking without a permit and conspiracy, which carries a seven-year sentence, his lawyer said. Following the dismissal of the latter charge, he pleaded guilty.

Judge Irene Gichobi described Zhang as lacking in remorse and "not an entirely honest person".

She said he would be "fined Kenya shillings 1 million" ($7,700) and ordered one year in jail, following a 14-day appeal. After, he will be "referred to his home country".

"There is a need for a stiff deterrent sentence," she said, noting the "rising cases of dealing in large quantities of garden ants and the negative ecological side effects".

Kenyan Charles Mwangi, 35, is accused of selling ants to three of the four convicted last year.

He has pleaded not guilty and the case is ongoing, according to his lawyer.