British authorities have arrested Daniel Andreas San Diego, an alleged animal-rights extremist who has been on the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist list since 2009, ending a 15-year manhunt connected to California biotechnology firm bombings.
San Diego was apprehended Monday in Wales during a coordinated operation involving Britain’s National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, and North Wales Police working with the FBI. He remains in detention pending extradition proceedings.
The suspect faces charges stemming from an August 2003 bombing at Chiron Inc. near Oakland, California, where authorities also discovered and disabled a second explosive device potentially meant to target first responders. Investigators accuse San Diego of planting a third bomb at another California company the following month. No injuries resulted from any of the incidents.
A group calling itself Revolutionary Cells claimed responsibility through statements on a pro-animal rights website, citing the targeted companies’ alleged connections to Huntingdon Life Sciences, a firm criticized for animal testing practices that is now part of Inotiv.
A 2004 federal grand jury indictment charged San Diego with two counts each of destroying or attempting to destroy property with explosives and using a destructive device in a crime of violence. The FBI has previously stated San Diego openly advocated using violence to advance animal rights movement goals.
“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,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said, adding that the arrest demonstrates the bureau’s commitment to pursuing suspects regardless of time elapsed.
