Animal rights activist wanted by FBI for Northern California bombings is captured in U.K.

A terrorist suspect wanted in connection with two animal rights-related bombings in Northern California 20 years ago has been captured in the United Kingdom, the FBI announced Tuesday.

Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, who was arrested in Wales with assistance from British authorities, was placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted Terrorist List in 2009 after eluding capture.

Federal investigators alleged that on Aug. 28, 2003, San Diego, then 25, planted two bombs at the offices of Chiron Inc., a biotech firm in Emeryville. The first bomb detonated in the early morning hours, but the second bomb, which authorities said was set to detonate an hour after the initial blast when it would be likely to kill or injure first responders, was located and the area was cleared before it went off.

A spokesman for the company at the time said the bombings had followed a long, escalating series of “harassment incidents” on the part of animal rights activists against Chiron executives that began that May. The activists said the company was conducting medical tests on laboratory animals.

The following month, on Sept. 26, 2003, FBI officials alleged that San Diego planted another bomb at a company in Pleasanton.

“This device was wrapped in nails to cause more substantial injuries to anyone within range of the shrapnel,” the FBI said in a statement at the time. “Although no one was injured in either case, the construction, placement and timing of the devices indicated San Diego intended to cause serious injury or death.”

A federal arrest warrant was issued on Oct. 5, 2003, but San Diego disappeared before he could be taken into custody. In 2004, a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging San Diego with two counts of destroying or attempting to destroy property with explosives and two counts of use of a destructive device in a crime of violence.

In January 2006, the FBI offered a $250,000 reward for information leading directly to the arrest of San Diego. Three years later, FBI officials said, they placed San Diego on the most wanted terrorist list. Since then, San Diego has been on the run until his recent capture.

“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 A. Wray said in a written 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.”