07-05-2025
Kenya court convicts four ant traffickers, fines each $7,700
Authorities arrested two Belgian teenagers, a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national on April 5, accusing them of trying to smuggle roughly 5,440 giant African harvester ant queens, which Kenyan prosecutors valued at around 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,300).
However, retail prices in the UK suggest the haul may have fetched as much as $1 million if it had reached European shores, where ant keepers maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums to observe their cooperative behaviour.
Magistrate Njeri Thuku ordered the traffickers, who all pleaded guilty, to pay the fine or face 12 months in jail.
(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Monicah Mwangi; Writing by Hereward Holland; Editing by Toby Chopra, Aidan Lewis)
