A Chinese language nationwide, Zhang Kequn, will stay in custody whereas he awaits a bail resolution following his arraignment alongside a Kenyan co-accused for the alleged unlawful commerce of reside ants.
Kequn, 37, and Charles Mwangi, 35, denied expenses of unlawfully dealing in wildlife species once they appeared earlier than Senior Principal Justice of the Peace Irene Gichobi on the Jomo Kenyatta Worldwide Airport Regulation Courts.
State counsel John Tago and Mercy Katsivo knowledgeable the court docket that authorities arrested the pair on March 10, 2026. On the time, they reportedly possessed 1,948 backyard ants in specialised tubes and one other 300 ants hidden in rolls of tissue. The prosecution said the lads lacked the required permits to deal with or commerce these bugs.
Mwangi faces further expenses after a subsequent discovery in Gilgil on March 13. There, investigators allegedly discovered him with extra consignments, together with 1,000 ants in a basin, 113 ants stashed in syringes, and 503 empty syringes meant for the unlawful commerce.
In the course of the listening to, the court docket discovered that the 2 males additionally face a joint cost of conspiracy to commit a felony. Prosecutors allege they collaborated between March 10 and March 13 to run their illegal wildlife commerce.
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Proof from the prosecution means that Kequn often purchased ants from Mwangi. He reportedly paid Sh60,000 for one batch of 600 ants and Sh70,000 for a second set of 700, successfully valuing every ant at roughly Ksh 100.
The Workplace of the Director of Public Prosecutions strongly opposed bail for Kequn, labeling him a flight threat. They knowledgeable the court docket that the Chinese language nationwide has no everlasting dwelling in Kenya, entered the nation lately (February 27, 2026) on a vacationer visa, and beforehand evaded arrest in 2025, which led immigration officers to flag his passport with a “stop order.”
Senior Principal Justice of the Peace Irene Gichobi ordered Kequn to stay in custody whereas the court docket considers his bail utility. Each suspects will return to court docket for a point out on March 27, 2026.
