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Posted on 05/07/2025 12:11:12 PM PDT by BenLurkin
A Kenyan court has sentenced four men to one year in prison or pay a fine of $7,700 (£5,800) for trying to smuggle thousands of live queen ants out of the country.
They had pleaded guilty to the charges, with the Belgians telling the court that they were collecting the highly sought-after ants as a hobby and didn't think it was illegal.
But delivering the sentence on Wednesday, the judge said the particular species of ants collected was valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.
The contraband included giant African harvester ants, which are valued by some UK dealers at up to £170 ($220) each.
Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, Vietnamese national Duh Hung Nguyen and Kenyan Dennis Ng'ang'a, were handed similar terms after the magistrate considered their mitigation arguments.
The Belgians were found with 5,000 ants while the other two were found with more than 300 ants in their apartments.
The ants were packed in more than 2,000 test tubes filled with cotton wool to help them survive for months, authorities said.
The Belgian teens had entered Kenya on a tourist visa and were staying in Naivasha, a town popular with tourists for its animal parks and lakes.
The court said Ng'ang'a, 26, acted as a "broker" due to his knowledge of the ants that are found in his rural home.
David, an ant enthusiast with 10 colonies of ants at home in Belgium, belongs to a Facebook group called "Ant Gang", the court heard.
The Belgian teen, who first visited Kenya five years ago, said he had bought 2,500 queen ants for $200 when he was arrested looking for more.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
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But do all these Queen ants identify as female? The authorities better be sure because there might be some who identify as King ants!
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Who the hell wants ants? I hate ants.
DEY WUZ KANGZ!
They were just paying startup expenses for their new exterminator business.
Shoot the anteneeeeee!
As a lad, I kept a pet mudpuppy in a large aquarium for several years. Caught him by mistake while ice-fishing one winter ...
I recall that scene vividly. I’m near positive it’s from Outer Limits. I saw it as a kid and it stayed in my mind for years.
Those giant bugs not only had two, front facing eyes like humans, they could also talk, and had a strange Elfin like voice. They didn’t sound terribly thrilled to see a human being.
You would be correct. It was from the series first season, an episode called, "The Zanti Misfits."
Beat me to it.
THEM’s the breaks...
Unintentionally hilarious movie.
Cool! What did you feed it?
It was from a TV show called "The Outer Limits" (1963). A lot of people who saw it as kids still get the creeps when they remember it. I know when I saw it as a kid, I hated ants for a long time. LOL
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