Four suspects who admitted guilt in a rare wildlife trafficking and biopiracy case involving live ants will be sentenced on April 15, 2025, at the JKIA Law Courts.
Two Belgians, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, were arrested in Naivasha with around 5,000 live queen ants, mostly of the Messor cephalotes species—native and ecologically vital to Kenya. The ants, stored in over 2,200 tubes, were worth about Sh1 million.
They were charged under Kenya’s Wildlife Conservation and Management Act for dealing in wildlife without permits.
In a related case, Vietnamese national Duh Hung Nguyen and Kenyan Dennis Ng’ang’a were caught with about 400 queen ants worth Sh200,000. The offenses took place in Nairobi and Syokimau between April 5 and 6.
Authorities say the traffickers used specially designed tubes and syringes with cotton wool to keep the ants alive and avoid airport detection. The suspects had entered Kenya on tourist visas, aiming to smuggle the ants to exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia.
The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) says the case amounts to biopiracy—unauthorized removal and commercial use of Kenya’s genetic resources—violating national law and the Nagoya Protocol.
Messor cephalotes ants are in high demand for their colony-building abilities and pest control features, making them valuable in artificial ant habitats.
KWS emphasized the prosecution is a milestone in tackling unconventional wildlife crimes and upholding Kenya’s rights over its biodiversity.
