Belgian teenagers will find 5,000 ants will be convicted by a Kenya court in two weeks
Two Belgian teenagers, who were found with thousands of ants evaluated in more than 8000 euros and allegedly destined for European and Asian markets, will be sentenced in two weeks, said a magistrate of Kenya.
Njeri Thuku, sitting at the Kenya main airport court, said he would not rush the case, but would analyze the environmental impact and the psychological reports presented in the Court before issuing the sentence on May 7.
Belgian citizens Lornay David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants in a guest house.
On April 15, they were accused of violating the conservation laws of wildlife.
The teenagers told the magistrate that they did not know that keeping the ants was illegal and that they were only having fun.
The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) declared that the case represented “a change in traffic trends, from large iconic mammals to less known but environmentally critical species.”
In the past, Kenya fought against traffic in parts of the body of large wild animals, such as elephants, rhinos and pangolines, among others.
Belgian teenagers had entered the country with a tourist visa and were in a guest house in the western city of Naivasha, popular among tourists for their animal and lake parks.
His lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua Magiro, said his clients did not know that what they were doing was illegal.
She said she expected the Belgian Embassy in Kenya “to support them more in this judicial process.”
In a separate case, Kenya Dennis Ng’ang’a and Vietnamese Duh Hung Nguyen were accused after being found in 400 ants in their apartment in the capital, Nairobi.
KWS declared that the four suspects were involved in the traffic of frames for markets for markets in Europe and Asia and that species included Messor headache, a large red native ant.
Ants are bought by people who have them as their pets and observe them in their colonies.
Several European sites have different species of ants for sale at various prices.
The 5,400 ants found with the four men were valued at 1.2 million Kenya Xelins (8,104 euros), according to KWS.
