LONDON, UK — A suspect wanted in the U.S. for two bombings in the San Francisco area appeared in a London courtroom Tuesday after being captured following a 20-year run from the law, officials said.
Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, 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 the court appearance in Westminster Magistrates’ Court and faces extradition.
San Diego is charged in the U.S. with planting two bombs that exploded about an hour apart on Aug. 28, 2003, on the campus of a biotechnology company in Emeryville, California. He’s also accused of setting off another bomb at a nutritional products company in Pleasanton, California, a month later.
The bombings didn't injure anyone, but authorities said the biotechnology bomb 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.”
The FBI had San Diego under surveillance when he parked his car near downtown San Francisco on Oct. 6, 2003, and disappeared into a transit station. The agency didn't see him again, though it said there were numerous sightings reported around the world.
In 2009, San Diego became the first person suspected of domestic terrorism to be added to the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List.
Photos of him appeared on billboards from California to Massachusetts, along the border with Canada and in Times Square, the FBI said. He was featured on the TV program “America’s Most Wanted” several times.
The FBI said he worked as a computer network specialist, was a skilled sailor and was known to carry a handgun.
The NCA said it arrested San Diego at a property near woods in the Conwy area of Wales, which is near the coast. No other details were provided.
