Man Arrested After Allegedly Trying to Smuggle Over 2,000 Queen Ants in Tissue Paper Rolls and Test Tubes at Airport

NEED TO KNOW

• A man has been arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle over 2000 queen ants from Kenya

• On Tuesday, March 10, Zhang Kequn was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi after authorities alleged they found 2,238 live ants inside his luggage

• The 27-year-old Chinese national, who was set to travel back to China, had previously avoided arrest last year in connection with an alleged ant trafficking network that was squashed

A man has been arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle over 2000 queen ants from Kenya.

On Tuesday, March 10, Zhang Kequn was arrested at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi after authorities alleged they found 2,238 live ants inside his luggage, according to the BBC, U.K. newspaper Independent and the South China Morning Post.

The  27-year-old Chinese national who was set to travel back to China had previously avoided arrest last year in connection with an alleged ant trafficking network that was squashed, per the BBC.

This resulted in a “stop order” being placed on Kequn’s passport, Independent cited court documents obtained by Reuters.

There has been an increase in demand for garden pets in Kenya, with the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warning about the pressure last year, per the BBC.

According to the outlet, people in Europe and Asia keep the ants, also known as Messor cephalotes, as pets.

PEOPLE reached out to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), the High Court of Kenya and Kenya Police Service for comment, but didn’t immediately receive responses.

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On Wednesday, March 11, state prosecutor Allen Mulama told the court that some of the ants in Kequn’s luggage had been packed in test tubes, the BBC reported.

“Within his personal luggage, there was found 1,948 garden ants packed in specialized test tubes,” Mulama said.

“A further 300 live ants were recovered concealed in three rolls of tissue paper within the luggage,” he added.

He had been in Kenya for two weeks and allegedly revealed to his three ant suppliers to authorities, per Independent.

Kequn’s phone and laptop are set to be forensically examined, according to the BBC.

More arrests related to ant trafficking and harvesting are expected, Senior KWS, Duncan Juma, told the outlet.

Meanwhile, investigators believe Kequn was the mastermind behind the trafficking ring that resulted in four men being sentenced to one year in prison and fined  $7,700 in May 2025 after trying to smuggle thousands of ants from Kenya, according to the BBC.

Kequn was able to escape at the time after leaving the country with another passport.

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