$50,000 Reward Offered After 2 Blasts
The FBI, in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, offered a $50,000 reward Thursday for the capture of Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 25-year-old environmental activist wanted in connection with the bombings at Chiron Corp. and Shaklee Corp. earlier this year.
San Diego was last seen walking away from his green Honda in downtown San Francisco on Oct. 6, just after the FBI planted tracking devices in the vehicle and a little more than a week after the bombing of Shaklee Corp. at its Pleasanton headquarters. Authorities said Thursday that San Diego is a registered gun owner and could be dangerous.
No one was injured in the Shaklee bombing.
Known for its environmentally friendly products, Shaklee makes vitamins, shampoos, detergents, water purifiers and other home and health-care products.
It is owned by Yamanouchi Consumer Inc., a holding company that is owned by Yamanouchi Pharmaceutical Co. Yamanouchi has been targeted by animal rights activists because of its long-term business dealings with British-based Huntingdon Life Sciences, an animal testing lab.
After the bombing, a little-known organization calling itself the Revolutionary Cells took responsibility for the bombing and warned of additional actions.
Earlier, on Aug. 28, two homemade bombs exploded at the headquarters of Chiron Corp., a biotechnology firm, in Emeryville. According to FBI affidavits unsealed Thursday, Chiron does business with Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Both before the bombing and since then, Chiron executives have been threatened at their homes, authorities said. According to documents, butyric acid and a loud alarm were left at the home of Chiron’s chief executive, Sean Lance. Fliers calling executives “puppy killers” have been posted in neighborhoods of other executives. Others have been harassed by late-night shouting through bullhorns, according to federal documents.
After San Diego’s disappearance, authorities secured a warrant to search his car. He left behind “a trunk load of bomb- making materials,” said Andrew Traver, ATF assistant special agent in charge. “He clearly intends to do it again. He’s very committed to that cause.” Traver added that the Shaklee bomb had been wrapped with nails, “a shrapnel device that shows he’s starting to up the ante,” he said. Federal documents, which were unsealed Thursday, list a series of long-distance calls made between San Diego’s parents’ house, where he was house-sitting the family cat, and the telephone of another activist. That activist called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, a group dedicated to stopping the use of animals in research.
Officials don’t believe San Diego acted alone. “We believe there may be other individuals who may be involved ... who either assisted prior to, during or after the bombings,” said Eric Jackson, supervisory special agent of the FBI.
“The evidence is overwhelming,” Kevin Kjonaas, the Huntingdon group’s president, said sarcastically. He said he had “never met San Diego” and he reiterated his organization’s position that “we’re opposed to violence against animals and people.” He said that, until the public learned of the Revolutionary Cells group, he had never heard of it. The Huntingdon group’s Web site lists the names and home addresses of Chiron executives.
FBI agents said San Diego is believed to be in the Bay Area or on the East Coast.
