NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Two Belgian teenagers found with 5,000 ants in Kenya were given a choice of paying a fine of $7,700 or serving 12 months in prison — the minimum penalty for the offense — for violating wildlife conservation laws.
Authorities said the ants were destined for European and Asian markets in an emerging trend of trafficking lesser-known wildlife species.
Belgian nationals Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, both 19 years old, were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house in Nakuru county, which is home to various national parks. They were charged on April 15.
Magistrate Njeri Thuku, sitting at the court in Kenya’s main airport on Wednesday, said in her ruling that despite the teenagers telling the court they were naïve and collecting the ants as a hobby, the particular species of ants they collected is valuable and they had thousands of them — not just a few.
The Kenya Wildlife Service had said the teenagers were involved in trafficking the ants to markets in Europe and Asia, and that the species included messor cephalotes, a distinctive, large and red-colored harvester ant native to East Africa.
“This is beyond a hobby. Indeed, there is a biting shortage of messor cepholates online,” Thuku said in her ruling.
The teenagers' lawyer, Halima Nyakinyua, described the sentencing as “fair” and said her clients would not appeal.
“When the statutes prescribe a specific minimum amount, the court cannot go lower than that. So, even if we went to the court of appeal, the court is not going to revise that," she said.
The illegal export of the ants “not only undermines Kenya’s sovereign rights over its biodiversity but also deprives local communities and research institutions of potential ecological and economic benefits,” KWS said in a statement.
In a separate but related case, two other men charged after they were found with 400 ants were also fined $7,700 each with an option of serving 12 months in prison.
Duh Hung Nguyen, a Vietnamese national, told the court that he was sent to pick up the ants and arrived at Kenya's main airport where he met his contact person, Dennis Ng'ang'a, and together they travelled to meet the locals who sell the ants.
Ng'ang'a, who is from Kenya, had said he didn't know it was illegal because ants are sold and eaten locally.
Magistrate Thuku during the ruling described Ng'ang'a and Nguyen's meet-up as “part of an elaborate scheme.”
Experts in Kenya have in recent days warned of an emerging trend to traffic lesser-known wildlife species.
Entomologist Shadrack Muya, a senior lecturer at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, told The Associated Press that garden ants are important for aerating soils, enhancing soil fertility and dispersing seeds.
“Ants play a very important role in the environment and their disturbance, which is also their removal, will lead to disruption of the ecosystem,” he said.
Muya warned against taking ants from their natural habitats, saying they were unlikely to survive if not supported to adapt to their new environment.
“Survival in the new environment will depend on the interventions that are likely to take place. Where it has been taken away from, there is a likelihood of an ecological disaster that may happen due to that disturbance,” he said.
Belgian nationals Lornoy David, center, and Seppe Lodewijckx, right, walk out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Belgian nationals Lornoy David, center, walks out of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya, Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
Belgian nationals Lornoy David, left, and Seppe Lodewijckx appear at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Law Courts in Nairobi, Kenya Wednesday, May 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Countless times in the leadup to the NFL draft, the New York Giants ran simulations to predict how the top 10 picks would unfold.
“This one didn't come up,” new coach John Harbaugh said. "This was not one that was really anticipated."
The Giants took Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese at No. 5 and Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa at No. 10 on Thursday night, making good on the insistence from Harbaugh and general manager Joe Schoen that they would go with the best players available rather than reach to fill a need.
"These are two top-five players in this draft, in our opinion," Harbaugh said, noting that Reese ranked first internally among non-quarterbacks. “You couldn’t do any better.”
Reese could have gone as high as No. 2 to the Jets, but the New York-area neighbor chose Texas Tech edge rusher David Bailey instead. With Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love going off the board when Arizona took him with the third pick and after Tennessee somewhat surprisingly selected Buckeyes receiver Carnell Tate, the door was wide open to get a versatile defender who turns 21 just before his rookie year begins.
“Get your board right, make sure you understand all the different possibilities and don’t overreact to things that you hear, things that might happen on draft night, and I thought we did a really good job of that and then all of a sudden there’s Arvell Reese — he’s coming to us," Harbaugh said. “It worked out just the way you would hope it would in that situation.”
Harbaugh and his staff plan to use Reese as an inside or weak-side linebacker as opposed to a traditional edge rusher, which most teams saw him as. The Giants already have plenty of talent at that position with Brian Burns, Kayvon Thibodeaux and the No. 3 pick a year ago, Abdul Carter.
Adding Reese gives new defensive coordinator Dennard Wilson some intriguing possibilities.
“I can say I’m going be used in a unique way,” Reese said on a conference call with local reporters. "I’m a weapon. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
Eschewing voids at wide receiver, safety and elsewhere, New York taking Mauigoa with the 10th pick adds young protection for franchise quarterback Jaxson Dart going into his second professional season. Mauigoa on stage told Dart, “I'm ready to die for you, man.”
“That should be everybody’s mentality," Mauigoa said. “As offensive linemen, we should be able to put everything on the line because the quarterback is the key to the offense.”
Schoen said Mauigoa, who played tackle in college, will start at guard, where the offensive line has an opening for a starter on the right side. Mauigoa, who goes by the nickname “Sisi,” brushed off concerns about a herniated disk in his back that persisted in the leadup to the draft, and his new team shares that feeling.
“We’re comfortable with it,” Schoen said. “Right now he’s fine. He’s good right now.”
Mauigoa's brother Kiko, a linebacker, was taken in the fifth round by the Jets last year. They were teammates at Miami but never envisioned this.
“College was different because we got to choose,” Francis Mauigoa said. “The NFL is different because now the teams get to choose. Man, I’m really excited to be near my brother and to be able to work out with him again.”
The Giants had the extra selection after acquiring it from Cincinnati in the trade that sent defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Bengals. They had a chance to add two Ohio State players with safety Caleb Downs also there at No. 10 or to trade down and opted against either possibility.
“We stuck with the board," Schoen said. “It just didn’t make any sense to try to get cute and do anything else.”
They're scheduled to pick next at No. 37 early in the second round on Friday night, and they don’t have one in the third because it was part of the trade to move up for Dart last year. Harbaugh called getting Reese and Mauigoa a really good start to his first draft with the Giants following 18 seasons with Baltimore.
They were just the second and third top-10 picks Harbaugh has been a part of as an NFL head coach, a decade after Ronnie Stanley at No. 6 in 2016.
"That was different," Harbaugh said. “We had two in, I don’t know, about an hour. It was fun.”
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Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa poses on the red carpet before the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Miami offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa poses on the red carpet before the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese poses with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell after being chosen by the New York Giants with the fifth overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese poses with a jersey after being chosen by the New York Giants with the fifth overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
Ohio State linebacker Arvell Reese celebrates with fans after being chosen by the New York Giants with the fifth overall pick during the first round of the NFL football draft, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
