Anbarasan Ethirajan<\/span>Global affairs reporter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n A woman accused of being one of the world’s most wanted traffickers of tiger body parts has been arrested in India, officials have said. <\/p>\n Yangchen Lachungpa, who was detained earlier this week, is accused of playing a critical role in building trafficking corridors leading out of the country to smuggle tiger parts out of the country. <\/p>\n Lachungpa had been on Interpol’s most-wanted list, and her bail plea was rejected during a court appearance on Thursday. <\/p>\n Wildlife officials said that Ms Yangchen’s arrest was a major breakthrough in the battle against poaching in India. <\/p>\n It is rare for a woman to be arrested in connection with the illegal trade of animal body parts. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Police had been looking for Lachungpa for several years. She was arrested following a co-ordinated operation between the Madhya Pradesh State Tiger Strike Force and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, the environment ministry said on Friday. <\/p>\n It added that Lachungpa was a key member of an organised trafficking network which has links to Nepal, Tibet and Bhutan, as well having operations in several Indian cities including Delhi.<\/p>\n Lachungpa had been arrested in 2017but disappeared after being granted bail.<\/p>\n Another man accused at the time, Jai Tamang, and who was arrested in 2015, told police that he had given Lachungpa wildlife contraband in exchange for shelter. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Tiger parts are in demand in China where they have been used in traditional medicine.<\/p>\n The International Fund for Animal Welfare says that there were 26 documented cases of tiger poaching in 2024, with 56 cases the proceeding year. <\/p>\n But it adds that there were likely “many more” tigers were likely poached as many are found dead without evidence of poaching. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/c6c0\/live\/d3eaf250-d1f8-11f0-a732-cbe19f3047f2.jpg.webp\")
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