Chinese Man Allegedly Caught In Creepy-Crawly Smuggling Attempt: REPORT

Kenyan authorities reportedly nabbed a Chinese national at Nairobi’s main airport this week after allegedly discovering more than 2,200 live garden ants stashed in his bags.

Zhang Kequn, 27, was detained Tuesday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as he attempted to fly out of the country, according to court documents reviewed by Reuters. Investigators allegedly found 2,238 ants total, with 1,948 sealed inside test tubes and the remainder concealed in three rolls of soft tissue paper, the outlet reported.

Zhang had spent roughly two weeks in Kenya and identified three associates who provided him with the insects, Reuters reported. Kenyan immigration officials had placed a stop order on his passport after he allegedly dodged arrest during a prior visit last year. The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) told the court it needed additional time to complete its probe, including a forensic review of an iPhone and MacBook taken from Zhang at the time of his arrest. (RELATED: Border Agents Make Smuggling Bust You Don’t See Every Day)

Prosecutors believe Zhang orchestrated the trafficking ring that Kenyan authorities dismantled in 2025, and that he seemingly fled the country on a separate passport to avoid prosecution, according to the BBC. KWS official Duncan Juma told the BBC that investigators expect further arrests as the probe widens.

Chinese national Zhang Kequn was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport while he was trying to leave Kenya with more than 2,200 live garden ants in his luggage amid a rise in cases of smuggling ‌of the insects in the African country https://t.co/XbF4fLyLS6 pic.twitter.com/70Jaly9oXm

— Reuters (@Reuters) March 12, 2026

The seized ants belong to the species Messor cephalotes, which are shielded by international biodiversity agreements, and their trade is subject to regulations, the BBC reported. Demand for the insects has surged among collectors in Europe and Asia who keep them as exotic pets. Four suspects were convicted in the 2025 case, including two Belgians, a Vietnamese and a Kenyan. After pleading guilty to the charges, they were sentenced to a single year in prison or a fine of $7,700 each, the BBC reported.

A separate seizure of Kenya-sourced ants in Bangkok on the same Tuesday pointed to an organized international smuggling operation with multiple shipping routes, Africa Today News New York reported. KWS labeled last year’s prosecution a “landmark case,” the first time Kenyan courts applied wildlife protections typically reserved for elephant ivory and rhino horn to insects.