Federal authorities announced last week the capture and arrest of a Seattle man, on the run for 12 years, believed to have been a member of an activist group that burned down a Redmond horse slaughterhouse 21 years ago.

Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 50, is described by the FBI as a “domestic terrorist” for his alleged involvement in a cell of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front known as “the Family” said to have been involved in a string of crimes around the U.S. West from 1995 to 2001.

Dibee was in Cuba about to board a plane when authorities intercepted him, according to a release by the U.S. Justice Department.

He was turned over to U.S. officials Thursday and is being housed at the Multnomah County Detention Center in Portland.

According to the Justice Department, the Family is responsible for $45 million in damage from 40 crimes including vandalism and arson. The group’s targets were often the U.S. government as well as buildings and other property of businesses that dealt in animal products. No people were killed in their activities.

According to the indictment, the Family held regular “book club” meetings to plan its arsons, going over topics such as lock-picking, computer security, target surveillance and learning to make incendiary bombs and the timing devices used to set them off.

In late 1996, the Family targeted several U.S. Forest Service buildings for arson. The next year, they staked out and planned the destruction of the Cavel West horse meatpacking plant and slaughterhouse at 1607 SE Railroad Ave. in Redmond. Dibee is said to have played a considerable role in the fire.

On July 21, 1997, Dibee, along with Kevin Tubbs, Jonathan Christopher Mark Paul and Josephine Sunshine Overaker, drove to a staging area near the facility, all dressed in dark clothing, masks and gloves, authorities allege. At the plant, Dibee is alleged to have carried the timing devices and drilled holes through the walls of the Cavel West facility and poured in a flammable gel made of soap and petroleum products. One of the ignition devices ignited early and the arsonists had to flee into the night, court records state.

Fire agencies from around the area responded, but the blaze destroyed the plant, causing $1.2 million in damage.

Back at the staging area, Family members covered possible evidence with acid and buried it, and swore oaths to never tell police who participated.

Cavel West, long the target of animal rights activists, announced six months later it would not rebuild.

In 2005, Dibee was contacted at his Seattle home by FBI agents but wasn’t arrested for lack of evidence.

The next year, he was indicted by a federal grand jury along with 12 others as part of “Operation Backfire,” an FBI investigation into earth and animal liberation groups. But by that point, he’d already gone on the run, according to the FBI.

His alleged co-conspirators have been sentenced to terms ranging from four to 12 years.

Police believe Dibee was attempting to travel from Central America to Russia at the time of his arrest in Cuba.

He appeared in federal criminal court in Portland on Friday, pleading not guilty to three counts of arson and various conspiracy-related charges.

He faces additional federal charges in Washington and California.

With his arrest, only one Family member remains on the run: Overaker. She’s believed to have fled to Europe in 2001.

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com