A thousand smuggled ants seized: scholars warn that successful import could cause ecological disaster

Do not keep imported ants as pets! The Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine under the Council of Agriculture announced yesterday that it had cracked an ant smuggling case: more than 1,000 ants from various countries entered Taiwan, China through international express delivery. The seller surnamed Liu had originally planned to resell them to hobbyists everywhere through e-commerce systems, profiting at NT$1,000 per ant. Fortunately, before the ants were sold, the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, together with the Miaoli County Criminal Investigation Brigade, went to the seller's home first to seize them. Only then did these invasive species, which could cause enormous harm to the environment, fail to reach the market. The seller surnamed Liu was also referred for prosecution for violating the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act.

Ants smuggled from China, unquarantined and illegal

Feng Haidong, deputy director-general of the Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine, pointed out that cases of people buying smuggled ants from abroad through the internet keep emerging. After receiving a tip-off this time and tracing the leads, they found at the home of the seller surnamed Liu a total of 1,115 ants smuggled and imported from China, including Tetramorium caespitum, Pogonomyrmex rugosus (harvester ants), red-black ants (Monomorium pharaonis), Camponotus turkestanus, Camponotus largiceps, giant mountain ants and others, which were expected to be sold through Shopee auctions, but none of them had undergone quarantine.

Regarding the act of privately importing ants, Feng also stressed that this already violated Article 15, Paragraph 1 of the Plant Protection and Quarantine Act, and under the law it is punishable by fixed-term imprisonment of not more than 3 years, detention, or a fine of not more than NT$150,000, or both; in addition, he further stated that if these invasive species successfully invade, they may cause irreversible impacts on ecology and farmland, and therefore called on the public not to buy them online at will.

Invasive ants as pets may harm agriculture in Taiwan, China

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