LONDON – A suspected animal rights extremist wanted in the U.S. for bombings in the San Francisco area was arrested in Britain after more than 20 years on the run from the law, officials said Tuesday.
Daniel Andreas San Diego, one of the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, was arrested Monday in a rural area in northern Wales, the National Crime Agency said. He was ordered held in custody after appearing Tuesday in Westminster Magistrates’ Court and faces extradition.
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San Diego, 46, is charged in the U.S. with planting two bombs that exploded about an hour apart in the early morning of Aug. 28, 2003, on the campus of a biotechnology company in Emeryville, California. He’s also accused of setting off another bomb with nails strapped to it at a nutritional products company in Pleasanton, California, a month later.
The bombings didn't injure anyone, but authorities said the bomb at the biotechnology company was intended to harm first responders.
A group called Revolutionary Cells-Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility for the bombings, citing the companies’ ties to Huntingdon Life Sciences. Huntingdon was a target of animal rights extremists because of its work with experimental drugs and chemicals on animals while under contract for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and other companies.
“Daniel San Diego’s arrest after more than 20 years as a fugitive for two bombings in the San Francisco area shows that no matter how long it takes, the FBI will find you and hold you accountable,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement. “There’s a right way and a wrong way to express your views in our country, and turning to violence and destruction of property is not the right way.”
In 2009, San Diego became the first person suspected of domestic terrorism to be added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List. A reward of $250,000 (200,000 pounds) was offered for information leading to his arrest.
Photos of him appeared on billboards from California to New York, including Times Square, the FBI said. He was featured on the TV program “America’s Most Wanted” several times.
San Diego grew up in an upper-middle class suburb of Marin County north of San Francisco. His father was the city manager of nearby Belvedere, a wealthy enclave.
San Diego had worked as a computer network specialist, was a skilled sailor and was known to carry a handgun, the FBI said.
The FBI had San Diego under surveillance on Oct. 6, 2003 when he parked his car near downtown San Francisco, and vanished into a transit station — not to be seen again.
There had been numerous sightings reported around the world and investigators announced searches at times as far apart as Massachusetts and Hawaii.
The NCA said it arrested San Diego at a property near woods in the Conwy area of Wales, a coastal area some 5,000 miles (8,000 kilometers) from San Francisco. No other details were provided.