Chinese national arrested over attempt to smuggle 2,000 queen ants from Kenya
BBC | 03 11 2026 | Wycliffe Muia

A Chinese national has been arrested in Kenya’s main airport accused of attempting to smuggle more than 2,000 queen garden ants out of the country.

Zhang Kequn was intercepted during a security check at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in the capital Nairobi after authorities discovered a large consignment of live ants in his luggage bound for China.

He has yet to respond to the accusation but investigators said in court that he was linked to an ant-trafficking network that was broken up in Kenya last year.

The ants are protected by international bio-diversity treaties and their trade is highly regulated.

… in Europe and Asia, where collectors keep them as pets.

A state prosecutor told the court on Wednesday that Zhang had packed some ants in test tubes, while others were concealed in tissue paper rolls hidden in his luggage.

Maybe he was actually smuggling in tissue paper, and this was a diversion.