FBI’s ‘Most Wanted Terrorist’ found hiding in Wales appears in court
A suspected eco-terrorist who spent more than 20 years on the FBI’s Most Wanted List has appeared in court after being found living in a small town in south Wales.
Daniel Andreas San Diego, 46, has been charged with planting two bombs on the campus of a biotechnology company in Emeryville, California in August 2003.
The bombs were set to detonate an hour apart, with the second believed to have been timed to harm first-responders.
He is also accused of planting a nail bomb at a nutritional products company in Pleasanton, California, a month later.
Nobody was armed by either of the bombs.
The FBI claims San Diego has ‘ties’ to animal rights extremist group ‘Revolutionary Cells-Animal Liberation Brigade’, who claimed responsibility for the bombings.
After disappearing from the agency’s radar for more than two decades, San Diego was eventually detained by officers from the National Crime Agency at a property in rural Wales on November 25.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London via video link from HMP Belmarsh on Tuesday, for his second extradition hearing.
The hearing, which lasted around two minutes, saw San Diego wear a gray prison-issue tracksuit and speak only to confirm his name.
His next scheduled appearance is on December 31.
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 was offered for information leading to his arrest, and photos of him appeared on billboards throughout the US.
It is not known exactly how he managed to elude US authorities for so long, but on October 6, 2003, while under FBI surveillance, San Diego parked his car in San Francisco and disappeared into a nearby transit station, never to be seen again.
The fugitive was eventually tracked and found in Maeman, a rural and sparsely populated settlement in Conwy. The sprawling community is mostly made up of farms and isolated cottages, and there is no local shop or village pub.
Many of the properties in the area are believed to be holiday homes.
Following his arrest, FBI Director Christopher Wray said in a statement: ‘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.
‘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.’
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