Chinese national arrested at JKIA attempting to smuggle 2,000 ants

Authorities stated that the suspect is the mastermind behind a global garden ants trafficking syndicate. The suspect was later arraigned and detained to allow further investigations. 

Kenya Wildlife Service investigators say Zhang Kequn was intercepted in the early hours of Tuesday as he attempted to smuggle close to 2,000 queen garden ants sealed for shipment to China.

Part of the ants were packed in test tubes, while about 300 were concealed in tissue paper rolls hidden in his luggage.

"His personal search, and within that luggage 1,948 garden ants were packed in specialised test tubes. A further 300 live ants were also recovered which were again concealed in three rolls of tissue," stated Allen Mulama, prosecutor at JKIA Law Courts.

The arrest comes nearly one year after another attempt was foiled at the same airport where two Belgian nationals, one Vietnamese national and a Kenyan were arrested with 5,000 giant African harvester ants bound for China.

Investigators now link those arrests to the same trafficking ring believed to be coordinated by Kequn.

The suspect was arraigned before Magistrate Njeri Thuku, who allowed prosecutors to detain him for five days to enable detectives conduct forensic analysis on his phones and laptop.

Detectives have also extended their investigations to Nakuru, Naivasha and other towns where ant harvesting is suspected to be ongoing.