Court gives ant smugglers choice of fine or year in prison

Belgian nationals Lornoy David, Seppe Lodewijckx, Vietnamese Duh Hung Nguyen and Dennis Ng'ang'a admit to offenses of smuggling ants worth Sh 1.2 million at JKIA. [Kamau Muthoni]

A Kenyan court sentenced four people on Wednesday, including two Belgian teenagers, to one year in prison or a fine of more than $7,000 for attempting to smuggle thousands of live rare ants out of the country.

The case has caught the public imagination, with the Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) accusing the four of engaging in "bio-piracy" for attempting to transport the rare ants out of the country.