Kenya court fines Belgian teenagers and others for trying smuggle protected ants
A Kenyan court on Wednesday, May 6, fined four individuals, including two Belgian teenagers, more than $7,000 each for attempting to smuggle thousands of live ants out of the country, in a case that has drawn significant public attention over concerns of bio-piracy. The accusedDavid Lornoy and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 18 from Belgium, Duh Hung Nguyen of Vietnam, and Dennis Nganga of Kenya, pleaded guilty to possessing the ants but denied any intention to traffic them. The Belgian teenagers were arrested in Nakuru County with 5,000 queen ants packed in 2,244 tubes. Their co-accused, Duh and Nganga, were found with ants stored in 140 syringes filled with cotton wool and two containers, according to court documents. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) described the incident as an act of bio-piracy, alleging the suspects planned to export the ants to lucrative exotic pet markets in Europe and Asia. During sentencing, Senior Magistrate Njeri Thuku drew a stark comparison between the illegal trade in wildlife and historical atrocities. Imagine being violently removed from your home and packed into a container with many others like you. Then imagine being isolated and squeezed into a tiny space where the only source of nourishment for the foreseeable future is glucose water, she wrote. It almost sounds as if the reference above is to slave trade. Yet, it is not slave trade, but it is illegal wildlife trade. The court noted that Lornoy was an ant enthusiast and a member of a Facebook group called Ants and Ant Keeping, maintaining colonies at home in Belgium. He told investigators he was unaware that transporting the ants was against Kenyan law. Among the seized specimens was the rare Messor cephalotes species, with a single queen ant reportedly valued at $99. The total estimated worth of the ants was one million Kenyan shillings, or about $7,740. While possession of wildlife without a permit in Kenya can result in fines up to $10,000 or at least five years in prison, the court ordered each of the four to pay a fine of one million shillings or serve a year in jail if they failed to do so. The magistrate said the Belgians did not fit the profile of typical poachers but criticized the broader pattern of foreign exploitation of African biodiversity. This case reflects a script that has been played out before in centuries gone by of Africa having resources that are plundered by the West and now the East, she said. In a statement, the KWS reaffirmed its position, calling the offense not only a wildlife crime but a clear instance of bio-piracy. The suspects, it said, intended to smuggle the ants to high-value exotic pet markets where demand for rare insect species continues to rise.The post
Kenya court fines Belgian teenagers and others for trying smuggle protected ants appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.
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