Drugs were discovered in prison this week, the government confirmed on Saturday.
Replying to questions sent earlier this week, a Home Affairs Ministry spokesperson told Times of Malta that drugs were found and that the "necessary disciplinary actions" were taken as a result.
She did not divulge what type of drugs had been discovered or how they had made their way into the secure facility.
The management of the Corradino Correctional Facility have in the past prompted scepticism after claiming to have completely eradicated drug use from prison, a problem that had haunted the facility for years.
Prison director Alex Dalli first made the claim in 2019, telling a court that: “There are no drugs in prison - we have eradicated them.”
He has since repeated the claim, saying routine tests and inspections consistently showed no presence of narcotics in the prison.
Two prison officials failed a random drugs test at the start of this year.
Half of inmates enter with drug use problem
According to the EU’s drug agency, just under half of the inmates at CCF had a history of drug use prior to being jailed.
A number of deaths in prison in recent months have raised concerns that narcotics abuse may still be present at CCF.
Meanwhile, the government spokesperson said there are a number of ways of detecting the presence of drugs within prison.
These, she said, include a high-level security system and regular drug testing among many other measures.
“In fact, the CCF has been drug-free for several months. It is to be noted that a drug-free prison has resulted in far less violence between prisoners and has also led to the implementation of more rehabilitation programmes,” the spokesperson said.
The amount of methadone given to drug-addicted prison inmates has decreased by two-thirds in recent months, as authorities attempt to weed out drug dependency behind bars.
Chris Cremona, the surgeon who heads a newly inaugurated medical centre at Corradino Correctional Facility, told Times of Malta in March that while up until last year inmates used up around three litres of methadone every single day, today the prison was using less than a litre of the substance on prisoners.
Methadone is a prescription drug used for pain relief and treatment of opioid addiction. It is usually administered to heroin addicts to help wean them off illegal drugs.