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The RCMP have charged a man with purposely cutting a subsea fibre optic cable linking Nova Scotia with Newfoundland, but the Mounties stressed the accused didn’t intend to damage essential infrastructure or impact national security.
The police force confirmed Wednesday that the 33-year-old from Ingonish, N.S., was arrested last Wednesday and charged with mischief causing more than $5,000 in damage.
The Bell Canada cable was severed off the coast of Aspy Bay in 30 metres of water, near the northern tip of Cape Breton, on Dec. 24 of last year. Earlier this year, a Bell Canada spokesman said it was possible the cable had been pulled to the surface and cut after it was snagged on a boat’s anchor.
Wrapped in coils of thick wire that act as armour, the three-centimetre-thick cable has been described by Bell as a “primary connection” for internet, television and long-distance communication between the two provinces.
When crews retrieved the ends of the cable, they determined it had been sliced clean, as if someone had used a specialized tool, the RCMP said in February.
On Wednesday, the RCMP issued a statement saying they had conducted a complex investigation that included working with the federal Fisheries Department and executing a search warrant on a vessel moored at a wharf in Ingonish, N.S., on the eastern side of Cape Breton.
“This investigation was complex in part because of the difficulties in attending the scene of the crime,” said RCMP Cpl. Cory Stead, detachment supervisor in Ingonish Beach.
“Partnerships with fishery officers and with the Bell Canada team that repaired the cut cable were an important part of collecting information and evidence.”
The cable stretches about 130 kilometres across the Cabot Strait, between Dingwall, N.S., and Codroy in the southwestern corner of Newfoundland. After it was repaired, Bell used remotely operated vehicles to bury it deep into the ocean floor.
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