Chinese man fined and jailed for smuggling ant in Kenya

Chinese man fined, sentenced to life in Kenya over ant smuggling case

The court said severe punishment was needed for Zhang Kequn, a Chinese citizen, in order to prevent it because many similar cases had taken place.

April 15, 2026

A Kenyan court on April 15 sentenced a Chinese national to 12 months' imprisonment for trying to pay a fine of 1 million shillings (9,800 dollars in Singapore) and smuggling living ants into and out of the country.

The judge involved in the case said that because Kenya has many ant-smuggling cases, it is necessary to impose a severe sentence in order to prevent it.

It serves markets such as China, where enthusiasts have paid large sums of money to keep ants on large, transparent ships known as formicariums that allow them to study the complex social structures and behaviors of the species.

Zhang Kequn, a Chinese citizen, was arrested at Nairobi's main international airport in February along with more than 2,200 living garden ants in his luggage.

His lawyer said he would appeal his sentence.

Zhang initially denied that he was innocent of the charges, including trafficking in living wildlife species, but later changed his confession to guilt.

We need a strong deterrent, pointing out the ecological effects of the numerous harvests with cases of trading in large numbers of garden ants, "said Judge Irene Gichobi.

Kenyan Charles Mwangi was also prosecuted in the case where Zhang was accused of supplying ants.

Mwangi has denied being guilty and is out on bail. His case was not filed in court on April 15.

In 2025, four men were fined 1 million each for trying to trade thousands of ants.

Wildlife experts said at the time that the case led to a change in biological piracy patterns from trophies like ivory to lesser-known species.# chinese

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