Kenyan authorities arrested Chinese national Zhang Kequn at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi after officers discovered more than 2,000 live queen garden ants concealed in his luggage, bound for China. A Nairobi court charged him and his Kenyan associate Charles Mwangi on Tuesday with illegal dealing in wildlife species and conspiracy to commit a felony.
Prosecutor Allen Mulama told Milimani Court that Zhang packed 1,948 ants into test tubes and hid a further 300 inside tissue paper rolls buried in his bags. Investigators told the court that Zhang heads a trafficking network Kenyan authorities broke up in 2024 — and that he escaped prosecution then by fleeing the country on a passport under a different name.
Court records show Zhang paid Mwangi 10,000 Kenyan shillings — roughly $77 — per 100 ants. Mwangi faces a second count of the wildlife dealing charge after officers found him in possession of more live ants on a separate occasion. Both men pleaded not guilty.
The court authorised prosecutors to hold Zhang for five days to conduct further investigations and ordered forensic examination of his phone and laptop.
Garden ants, known scientifically as Messor cephalotes, fall under CITES — the international treaty governing trade in species of conservation concern. The Kenya Wildlife Service has flagged a rise in demand from collectors across Europe and Asia, who keep the insects as pets.
This is not the first such case in Kenya. In May 2024, a Nairobi court sentenced four men — two Belgians, a Vietnamese national, and a Kenyan — to one year in prison or a fine of $7,700 for attempting to smuggle thousands of live queen ants out of the country. The Kenya Wildlife Service described the ruling as a landmark case.
Senior KWS official Duncan Juma told the BBC that investigators expect more arrests as the probe expands to other towns where ant harvesting operations are believed to be active. The two men return to court on March 27.
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