Latest news with #AntGang
Al Jazeera
07-05-2025
- Al Jazeera
‘Ant Gang' smugglers sentenced in Kenya wildlife trafficking case
NewsFeed 'Ant Gang' smugglers sentenced in Kenya wildlife trafficking case Two Belgian teens caught with 5,000 rare ants in Kenya were sentenced to 12 months in prison or a fine of $7,700. Officials warn the case signals a growing global black market for lesser-known species.
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Yahoo
'Ant gang' sentenced for smuggling thousands of live insects in Kenya
Two Belgian teenagers who were found with 5,000 ants in Kenya have been given the choice of serving 12 months in prison or paying a fine of $7,700 (£5,767) for trying to smuggle live queen ants out of the country. Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species. Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, were arrested and charged last month after they were found with the ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-coloured harvester ant native to East Africa. ADVERTISEMENT The teenagers claimed in court that they were naive and collecting the ants as a hobby. However, David's phone revealed he was a member of a group known as "Ant Gang", and that he had initially bought 2,500 queens for $200, magistrate Njeri Thuku said in her ruling. There was no justification for being found with such a large quantity of queen ants, she said. "This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online," she said. In a separate, but related, case, two other men - a Vietnamese national and a Kenyan - were charged after they were found with more than 400 ants. All four were accused in two separate cases of trying to smuggle out ants - violating wildlife conservation laws - and appeared before Ms Thuku to be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty. ADVERTISEMENT The magistrate said the 5,400 ants would fetch in excess of €800,000 (£680,000) or $900,000 online in Europe, Asia, and parts of North America. She said Duh Heng Nguyen, from Vietnam, was sent to Nairobi to meet a Kenyan, Dennis Nganga, and collect ants in an elaborate scheme that had "all the hallmarks of illegal wildlife trade and possibly biopiracy". Queen ants are valued because they are the only ones capable of laying eggs that grow into worker, soldier and future queen ants, meaning that the illegal trade can jeopardise colonies critical to Kenya's wildlife ecosystem. KWS said the ants "were destined for the European and Asian exotic pet trade". "Today's ruling sends an unequivocal message: Kenya will not tolerate the plunder of its biodiversity. Whether it's an ant or an elephant, we will pursue traffickers relentlessly," said its director general Erustus Kanga.
Sky News
07-05-2025
- Sky News
'Ant gang' sentenced for smuggling thousands of live insects in Kenya
Two Belgian teenagers who were found with 5,000 ants in Kenya have been given the choice of serving 12 months in prison or paying a fine of $7,700 (£5,767) for trying to smuggle live queen ants out of the country. Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species. Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, were arrested and charged last month after they were found with the ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-coloured harvester ant native to East Africa. The teenagers claimed in court that they were naive and collecting the ants as a hobby. However, David's phone revealed he was a member of a group known as "Ant Gang", and that he had initially bought 2,500 queens for $200, magistrate Njeri Thuku said in her ruling. There was no justification for being found with such a large quantity of queen ants, she said. "This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online," she said. In a separate, but related, case, two other men - a Vietnamese national and a Kenyan - were charged after they were found with more than 400 ants. All four were accused in two separate cases of trying to smuggle out ants - violating wildlife conservation laws - and appeared before Ms Thuku to be sentenced on Wednesday after pleading guilty. The magistrate said the 5,400 ants would fetch in excess of €800,000 (£680,000) or $900,000 online in Europe, Asia, and parts of North America. She said Duh Heng Nguyen, from Vietnam, was sent to Nairobi to meet a Kenyan, Dennis Nganga, and collect ants in an elaborate scheme that had "all the hallmarks of illegal wildlife trade and possibly biopiracy". Queen ants are valued because they are the only ones capable of laying eggs that grow into worker, soldier and future queen ants, meaning that the illegal trade can jeopardise colonies critical to Kenya's wildlife ecosystem. KWS said the ants "were destined for the European and Asian exotic pet trade". "Today's ruling sends an unequivocal message: Kenya will not tolerate the plunder of its biodiversity. Whether it's an ant or an elephant, we will pursue traffickers relentlessly," said its director general Erustus Kanga.
Indian Express
07-05-2025
- Indian Express
Kenya court fines four men for trafficking over 5,000 queen ants
A Kenyan court on Wednesday fined four men $7,700 each for trying to traffic thousands of ants valuable to the country's ecosystem, in cases experts say signal a shift in biopiracy from trophies like elephant ivory to lesser-known species. Authorities arrested two Belgian teenagers, a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national on April 5, accusing them in two separate cases of trying to smuggle out roughly 5,440 giant African harvester queen ants. Magistrate Njeri Thuku said the ants would fetch in excess of 800,000 euros or $900,000 online in Europe, Asia, and parts of North America, where ant keepers maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums to observe their cooperative behaviour. Queen ants are valued because they are the only ones capable of laying eggs that grow into worker, soldier and future queen ants, meaning that the illegal trade can jeopardise colonies critical to Kenya's wildlife ecosystem. Thuku convicted the traffickers of dealing in live wildlife species, and ordered them to pay the fine or face 12 months in jail. They had all pleaded guilty. The cases had raised questions about whether the alleged trafficking was linked to wider networks. Thuku said that Duh Heng Nguyen, from Vietnam, was sent to Nairobi to meet a Kenyan, Dennis Nganga, and collect ants in an elaborate scheme that had 'all the hallmarks of illegal wildlife trade and possibly biopiracy'. Nguyen is what is known in the drug trafficking world as a 'mule or courier', Thuku said, describing his role as having the tell-tale signs of organized crime. Nguyen and Nganga said they did not know their actions were against the law, according to the judge's characterisation of their pleas. 'ANT GANG' The two Belgians, identified in court documents as Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, are both ant enthusiasts who claimed in court that they acted out of naivety, Thuku said. Lornoy David's phone revealed that he was a member of a group known as 'Ant Gang', and that he had initially bought 2,500 queens for $200, Thuku said in her ruling. There was no justification for being found with such a large quantity of queen ants, Thuku said. 'This is beyond a hobby,' Thuku said. 'Indeed if it happened to any larger species with 5,000 of a specific gender being taken away, it would be genocidal proportions.' The Kenya Wildlife service said the messor cephalotes ants are a critical species in maintaining soil health and ecosystem balance, and were intercepted by authorities at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the capital. It said in a statement that the ants 'were destined for the European and Asian exotic pet trade, where colonies of rare and ecologically unique species can command prices of up to 1,200 euros each.' 'Today's ruling sends an unequivocal message: Kenya will not tolerate the plunder of its biodiversity. Whether it's an ant or an elephant, we will pursue traffickers relentlessly,' said Erustus Kanga, KWS Director General.
