Two Belgian teens, Vietnamese, and Kenyan admit smuggling ants worth Sh1.2m

Tears rolled as laughter filled the court when two Belgian teens, a 23-year-old computer science Vietnamese student and a 25-year-old Kenyan, pleaded for mercy after pleading guilty to smuggling garden ants queens worth Sh1.2 million.

On one hand, Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, shed tears as they asked the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) magistrate to allow them to go home.

The two safari rally enthusiasts claimed they harvested 5000 queens out of curiosity and a hobby they have had in Belgium since they were kids.

Their mothers, who had jetted into the country to follow the trial, were equally in tears as the two explained that they were not criminals but were acting in ignorance.

“I know that the consequence of breaking the law is suffering, and I accept that. It was not our intent to break the law and we have suffered a lot in the last two days and I think after our sentence, we will suffer more. We are not criminals, we are 18 years old, we are not naive and I want to just go home and sort my life,” said David.

Lodewijckx, on his end said that he was remorseful.

Their lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua Magair,o said they were pleading for a second chance.

“They are taking responsibility of their actions. This has affected their family and parents and their mothers had to travel to the country from Belgium. They acted out of curiousity and not understanding the laws. They were collecting to study them since it is a hobby since they were young. They ask the court to accord them a second chance and allow them to return home,” argued Nyakinyua.

On the other hand, the prosecution led by Allen Mulama told the court that David was involved in a syndicate called ‘ant gang’.

He told the court that a report showed that the two had queens, adding that there was a need for specialist information on why queens were being targeted and the effect on the environment.

A report from the National Museum filed in court indicated that he was arrested alongside 26-year-old Denis Ng’ang’a with at least five types of ants.

With him were 116 messor cephalotes (giant African ants) queens, four messor angularis (Kenyan harvester ant) queens, nine componotus maculatus (nesting and foraging ant)major workers, four camponotus sp (also a carpenter ant) queens and one Oecophylla lnginoda (weaver ant) queen.

In the meantime, Vietnamese Nguyen Duy Hung claimed to be a computer scientist who was in Kenya on a visitor’s visa.

He urged the court to cancel his visa and blacklist him from ever coming back. He, too, claimed to act on ignorance.

His co-accused, Davis Ng’ang’a’s lawyer, Lusweti Namai, caused the court to burst into laughter after he argued that there was no evidence that ants were an endangered species.

He claimed that they are edible and added that no law prohibits either eating or exporting them.

“There are no regulations that exist on the insects. They usually state that wildlife are endangered. We eat these ones and call them machichi. We need clarification because if we eat kumbe kumbe( termites), we might be arrested. We pray for a noncustodial sentence,” said Namai.

The trial continues on June 23.

 In the same court, three men were charged with smuggling aloe vera.  Adan Adaw Abdullahi, Ahamed Yusuf Abdurahiman and Chinde Cheme Chode were accused of illegally transporting 15 tons of aloe vera gum worth Sh 15 million without a permit. They denied the charge.

Aloe gum is derived by boiling the sap of aloe leaves, specifically those of Aloe secundiflora.

“On the 13th day of April, 2025 at around 2020HRS at Merti-junction road block of Marsabit - Isiolo Highway In Samburu County, with others not before court were found dealing in wildlife trophies, namely 15 Tons of aloe gum, which was being ferried using fusoLorry Reg. No. KCY 025W that had a street value of Sh 15 million without a permit,” the charge sheet read in part.