Police on Cortes Island have reason to believe a person purposely sliced cables for internet and data networks causing tens of thousands of dollars in damage.
A manager at a fibre-optic service called City West reported the incident to police on March 21.
Quadra Island RCMP was notified that a fibre-optic cable, running along Whaletown Road, was cut in three places.
Const. Rebekah Draht says when police arrived, they discovered the cables were actually cut in 17 spots, not three.
"The complainant advised the cables were cut in such a way that someone would need to have knowledge of where to cut to make them inoperable,” says Draht.
The damage is estimated at $40,000.
City West started construction on Quadra Island back in January 2022 to start building the underground network. It promised to provide communication service to Cortes Island and 138 rural and remote communities, including 48 Indigenous communities.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Quadra Island RCMP at 250-285-3631.
