In several previous episodes, we exposed cases of Chinese nationals being arrested at U.S. airports

while trying to smuggle in a variety of suspicious material, roundworms, e-coli bacteria samples,

as well as a type of fungus that can be used to decimate American crops. Well, we now have a new addition to that list, sort of.

A Chinese national has just been arrested at an airport over in Kenya

while trying to smuggle out live ants out of country.

Specifically, Mr. John Kuchun, a citizen of mainland China,

he was arrested at the main international airport in Nairobi,

which is the capital city of Kenya. Now, initially, he said that he was innocent and he did not

know how the ants got into his luggage, which would have been believable if the 2,200 living

ants that he had in his luggage were not individually wrapped in 2,200 little

test tube containers. He eventually wound up pleading guilty to the charges of smuggling. Now, among

the ants that were found in his luggage, there were 1,900 of the largest known species of

harvester ant in the world, something that collectors pay a lot of money for. Quote, it serves markets such as China, where enthusiasts have paid large sums to maintain

ant colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums that allow them to study the species

complex social structures and behaviors. And the profit margins on these ants is phenomenal. During the trial, it was revealed

that this Chinese national was buying the ants from a local African for $77 U.S. dollars per 100.

Basically, if you do the math, each ant was only costing him 77 cents. But the collectors over in

Europe and Asia, they're willing to pay

anywhere between 100 all the way up to $220 per ant, which is pretty much a $100 to $200 profit

per unit. And when you do the math, it translates to between a 12,000 to 24,000 percent

return on investment. However, part of that price tag has to do

with the fact that at the moment at least, it is illegal to export these ants out of Kenya. And because

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