A Chinese national, Zhang Keng Kun, was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) while allegedly attempting to smuggle nearly 2,000 queen garden ants out of Kenya.
The arrest took place in the early hours of Tuesday while the suspect was attempting to board a flight at JKIA. According to the arresting authorities, the Chinese national had earlier escaped arrest in 2025 by using a different passport to board a flight to China.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) investigators say Zhang Keng Kun was intercepted in the early hours of Tuesday as he attempted to smuggle close to 2,000 sealed queen garden ants to China.
According to the KWS, investigators who made the arrest stated that some of the ants were concealed in test tubes and others were wrapped in tissue paper.
“Personal luggage was searched, and within that luggage there were found 1,948 garden ants. They were packed in special test tubes, which is now a departure from the syringes that we saw in 2025,” Allan Mulama, a prosecutor at JKIA, stated
The authorities’ report indicated that the arrest of the Chinese national was made a year after another attempt was busted, where two Belgian nationals, one Vietnamese, and a Kenyan were arrested at the same airport with 5,000 giant African harvester ants bound for China.
Investigators of the smuggling have now linked the arrested people to Keng Kun as the coordinator of the trafficking ring.
Zhang Keng Kun is mentioned by the authority as the mastermind behind the Global Garden Ant Syndicate trafficking.
The Chinese suspect was arraigned before Magistrate Njeri Thuku, who allowed the prosecutors to detain Zhang Keng Kun for five days as detectives conduct a forensic analysis on his phone and laptop.
She also stated that the mention of the Chinese national arrested for anti-smuggling would take place on March 17, 2026, to confirm compliance.
Detectives are also extending their probe to Nakuru, Naivasha, and other towns where ant harvesting is suspected to be ongoing.
Also Read: Court Fines Foreigners Caught Smuggling Ants Ksh1 Million
Earlier Cases of Ant Smuggling Linked to the Chinese National
On April 5, 2025, at Jane Guest House in Lake View, Naivasha, two foreigners, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, were charged under Section 95(c) of the Wildlife Conservation and Management Act for unlawfully dealing with protected species.
A senior principal magistrate at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts ruled on the case involving the two Belgians charged with smuggling queen ants from Kenya.
According to court documents, the two were in possession of approximately 5,000 garden ant queens, packed in 2,244 tubes.
The two pleaded guilty during their arraignment on April 14, 2025. Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku fined each of them Ksh1 million, with an alternative of 12 months’ imprisonment if they default. They were given 14 days to appeal the sentence.
The court further issued a directive that the two, after paying the penalty as per the court order, were to be repatriated by the immigration department.
Also Read: Kenya Exposed as Gold Smuggling Hotspot in New Report
In a separate case also involving the smuggling of ants, Senior Principal Magistrate Njeri Thuku sentenced Vietnamese national Duh Hung Nguyen and Kenyan Dennis Nganga to a fine of Ksh1 million each, or in default, 12 months in prison.
Duh and Nganga were found in possession of ants stored in 140 syringes packed with cotton wool, along with two additional containers.
The recent arrest of the Chinese national Zhang Keng Kun has been linked to the two previous cases that involved ant smuggling, with authorities placing him at the center as the coordinator.
