Four individuals including two Belgian nationals, a Vietnamese citizen, and Kenyan — Monday pleaded guilty to charges of illegal possession and trade in live queen ants.
In a case heard at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts, Prosecution led by Allen Mulama and Paula Rono told the court that the Belgians namely Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx were arrested on April 5, 2025, at around 10:00 a.m. at Jane Guest House in the Lake View area of Naivasha, Nakuru County.
The two were found in possession of approximately 5,000 live queen ants stored in 2,244 tubes, with an estimated street value of Sh1 million.
They were charged with dealing in wildlife species without a permit, contrary to Section 95(c) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act, Cap 376, Laws of Kenya.
In a separate but related case, Vietnamese national Duh Hung Nguyen and Kenyan national Dennis Ng’ang’a were charged with illegal possession and trade of around 400 live queen ants, valued at Sh200,000.
The offense is reported to have occurred between the April 5, 2025 and April 6, 2025 at Hemak Towers Suite in Nairobi’s Central Business District and Tofina Muthama Apartments in Syokimau, Nairobi County.
All four accused appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku and entered guilty pleas.
The court deferred the matter to April 15, 2025, to allow the prosecution to present the facts of the case and submit the physical exhibits.
The accused will remain in custody at the JKIA Police Station until then.
This is the latest such incident to happen amid operations to address the trend.
In 2023, three suspects were arraigned and charged with the illegal exportation of safari ants worth Sh300,000 to France.
Martin Nyota, Rose Wairimu, and Eunice Muthoni were accused of dealing in live Wildlife species, an offence against section 95(b) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act 2013.
They were accused that between June 2 and 19, they were jointly found dealing with life species of messer cephalates (safari ants) at the JKIA without a permit.
Rose Wairimu faced another charge of concealing prohibited goods, contrary to section 200 of the East Africa Community Customs Management Act 2004.
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