Two Belgian teenagers were charged Tuesday with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser known species.

The two other suspects, from Kenya and Vietnam, had about 400 ants. Authorities said the 5,000 ants had a street value of about 1 million Kenyan shillings ($7,700) but would have provided invaluable ecological benefits to Kenya's forests and other ecosystems.

Two Belgian teenagers, David Lornoy and Seppe Lodewijckx admitted in court that they attempted to traffic thousands of queen ants for the growing international exotic pet market.