New Delhi, December 5, 2025 – In a major breakthrough in the fight against wildlife crime, the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force (MP STSF), in a coordinated operation with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), successfully apprehended an international wildlife trafficker, Yangchen Lachungpa, who had been evading authorities for nearly a decade and was wanted under an INTERPOL Red Notice. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change confirmed the arrest on Friday, describing it as one of the most significant wildlife-crime operations in the country linked to international law enforcement.

Lachungpa, a resident of Lachung in North Sikkim, was arrested on December 2 following sustained intelligence gathering and coordinated ground action involving multiple agencies. According to ministry officials, she is a key operative in a transnational wildlife trafficking network with established connections across Nepal, Tibet, and Bhutan. Within India, her operations extended to several major cities, including Delhi, Siliguri, Gangtok, Kolkata, Kanpur, Itarsi, and Hoshangabad. The arrest marks a critical step in dismantling the network, which has been active for several years, smuggling wildlife contraband including tiger parts and pangolin scales.

The WCCB, which functions as India’s INTERPOL Liaison Office, obtained the Red Notice against Lachungpa on October 2, 2025, after repeated attempts to locate and apprehend her proved unsuccessful. INTERPOL Red Notices are issued to alert law enforcement agencies worldwide about fugitives wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence. Lachungpa’s inclusion on this list reflects the serious nature of her offenses and her central role in an organized wildlife trafficking syndicate.

The arrest operation involved meticulous planning and close cooperation among several authorities. The Sikkim Police, the state forest department, local judiciary, and the district administration coordinated their efforts on the ground. Additionally, the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), responsible for security along India’s borders, provided secure transit support from Sikkim to Siliguri, ensuring that Lachungpa could be safely transferred without any threat to public safety. Officials noted that the heightened public sentiment surrounding wildlife protection required careful handling of the operation to prevent interference or unrest.

Following her arrest, Lachungpa was taken to Gangtok for a mandatory medical examination, as required under Indian law. On December 3, she was produced before a competent court, which rejected her bail plea and granted transit remand to Madhya Pradesh. Further legal proceedings are expected to take place in Narmadapuram, where the Madhya Pradesh forest department had originally registered the case in 2015 concerning poaching and the illegal trade of tiger body parts and pangolin scales.

The case against Lachungpa dates back to July 13, 2015, when the Madhya Pradesh forest department registered a case in the Kamti range of the Satpura Tiger Reserve in Hoshangabad. Initial investigations had revealed seizures of four pieces of tiger bones, approximately 1.5 kilograms of pangolin scales, tiger skin, and tiger bone oil extract, all indicating the presence of an organized criminal network involved in wildlife trafficking.

One of the first major breakthroughs in the investigation occurred with the arrest of another key accused, Jai Tamang, in October 2015. Tamang’s confession established that he supplied wildlife contraband directly to Lachungpa and that she had provided him shelter and support. His statement helped law enforcement authorities map Lachungpa’s role in the broader trafficking network and identify her as a central figure in the operation.

Of the 36 people named in the original case, the chief judicial magistrate at Narmadapuram convicted 27 on December 20, 2022. Lachungpa, however, had evaded trial for years, absconding from authorities and thereby delaying justice. She had been briefly apprehended in September 2017 but violated bail conditions and absconded once again. This led to the issuance of an arrest warrant on July 29, 2019, after which she continued to evade law enforcement, necessitating the intervention of the WCCB to seek an INTERPOL Red Notice through India’s National Central Bureau (NCB) under the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Authorities have highlighted Lachungpa’s pivotal role in the transnational trafficking of wildlife contraband, especially tiger parts, which remain in high demand both domestically and internationally. Tiger bones, skins, and derivatives such as tiger bone oil are highly valued in certain traditional medicine markets and among collectors, making the trade both lucrative and destructive to conservation efforts. Similarly, pangolin scales, which are used in traditional medicine, have made pangolins one of the most trafficked mammals in the world. Lachungpa’s arrest, therefore, represents a critical disruption to an illicit supply chain that had persisted for nearly a decade.

The Ministry of Environment noted that Lachungpa’s arrest will enable further investigation into both the backward and forward linkages of the trafficking network. Backward linkages may include poachers and suppliers in source areas such as tiger reserves and forested regions of Nepal and Bhutan, while forward linkages involve traffickers, middlemen, and buyers in major Indian cities and international markets. The authorities emphasized that dismantling such networks requires sustained intelligence sharing, coordinated operations across multiple jurisdictions, and the involvement of specialized wildlife crime units such as the MP STSF and WCCB.

The arrest also demonstrates the critical role of inter-agency coordination in combating wildlife crime. The MP STSF, established to tackle crimes affecting tigers and other endangered species, worked closely with the WCCB, local police, and security forces to ensure a successful operation. The WCCB’s function as India’s INTERPOL Liaison Office was instrumental in securing the Red Notice and facilitating international cooperation in locating a fugitive who had crossed multiple borders.

Experts in wildlife conservation have welcomed the arrest, calling it a landmark in the country’s ongoing efforts to protect endangered species. They point out that the operation underscores India’s commitment to enforcing strict wildlife protection laws, including the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and provisions under the UAPA for transnational environmental crimes. By targeting organized networks rather than isolated poachers, authorities aim to curb the systemic trade in illegal wildlife products and send a strong deterrent message to traffickers.

Officials also stressed that Lachungpa’s arrest serves as a warning to other members of transnational wildlife trafficking networks that law enforcement agencies are capable of tracking and apprehending fugitives even years after the crimes were committed. The case demonstrates that sustained intelligence efforts, combined with judicial and administrative support, can overcome challenges posed by absconding offenders, complex criminal networks, and cross-border operations.

In conclusion, the arrest of Yangchen Lachungpa represents a significant achievement in India’s battle against wildlife trafficking. By apprehending a key international offender wanted under an INTERPOL Red Notice, authorities have disrupted a major trafficking chain, brought a fugitive to justice, and reinforced the country’s commitment to protecting endangered species such as tigers and pangolins. The ongoing investigation is expected to uncover additional links within the network, and further prosecutions are likely to follow as the judicial process in Madhya Pradesh proceeds. This operation not only strengthens India’s enforcement mechanisms against wildlife crime but also sends a clear signal that the country remains vigilant in combating illegal wildlife trade at both national and international levels.