Chinese national and Kenyan charged with illegal wildlife trafficking of thousands of queen ants in Kenya: Video
Two men have appeared in a Nairobi court charged with engaging in the illegal trade of live wildlife species after authorities said they were found with thousands of live queen ants without the required export permits.
The accused, Chinese national Zhang Kequn and Kenyan national Charles Mwangi, appeared before Senior Principal Magistrate Irene Gichobi at the JKIA Law Courts on Tuesday, March 17. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"The first offence is dealing with live wildlife species without a permit, and then there are other charges that have been added, particularly the third charge that relates to conspiracy to commit a felony, which carries a sentence of up to 7 years imprisonment," said David Namai, lawyer for Zhang Kequn.
According to prosecutors, the two were arrested on March 10, 2026, while in possession of approximately 2,000 ants stored in test tubes, with hundreds more concealed in tissue rolls.
This story is written and edited by the Global South World team, you can contact us here.
