Kenya's ant-smuggler bust exposes lucrative underground trade

Belgium nationals David Lornoy and Seppe Lodewijckx look on, after they appeared in court during presentation of pre-sentencing report of their case after they pleaded guilty of illegal possession and trafficking of garden ants, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi

NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan police who raided a national park guesthouse earlier this month aimed not to bust elephant tusk or rhino horn poachers but a more esoteric ring trading a much smaller, more lucrative item by weight - queen ants.

Two Belgian teenagers were arrested for wildlife trafficking at Jane Guesthouse in Naivasha on the edge of Hell's Gate National Park. They, along with a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national also accused of ant trafficking, pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on May 7, a magistrate said on Wednesday.