Cuban officials have handed over suspected eco-terrorist Joseph Mahmoud Dibee to the United States, just as he was about to board a plane to Russia.
Dibee, 50, was listed on an INTERPOL Red Notice, according to the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was turned in on Thursday in compliance with international agreements, reports NBC News.
Dibee and four others allegedly set a meat packing plant in Redmond, Oregon, on fire in 1997, causing $1.2 million in damages, according to the FBI. He has also been linked with similar crimes in California, Colorado, Washington and Wyoming between 1995 and 2001.
He has been tied to the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, both considered environmental extremist groups by federal officials.
Dibee pleaded not guilty in Portland on Friday, and is facing several charges, including conspiracy to commit arson, conspiracy to destroy an energy facility, and possession of a destructive device.
The FBI said Dibee fled the United States in late 2005, a year before he and 11 alleged co-conspirators were indicted under the Operation Backfire domestic terrorism probe. The group, known as "the Family," allegedly took part in more than 40 criminal acts totaling an estimated $45 million in damages.
The group's "most notorious act" took place in 1998, when a ski resort in Vail, Colorado, was set on fire, causing $26 million in damages. Just one "Family" member, Josephine Sunshine Overaker, has not been captured. The FBI said she ran away to Europe in 2001.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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