Police officers should be subjected to the same random urine tests as Armed Forces of Malta personnel, five of whom tested positive for drugs last year, AFM sources told the Times of Malta.

“Members of the Armed Forces of Malta are held to very different standards compared to the police, and this has always yielded fruit. If the country wants a serious police force, it has to be held to serious standards,” they said.

The issue of drug use among police officers hit the headlines earlier this month when this newspaper reported that three officers had been caught in possession of cocaine during a raid on a Paceville nightclub.

It later emerged that policemen were not subjected to random tests and the force only took urine samples when there was a “reasonable suspicion”.

Read: Urine tests on police only if there are suspicions of drug abuse – Commissioner

“Carrying out tests on officers of the law only on the basis of suspicion is not good enough. The longer we drag our feet on changing this, the more the damage to the police force and its credibility will be,” the sources added.

Questioned about drug tests earlier this month, Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar said random tests were only carried out on new recruits.

Read: No police recruits failed drugs test before academy training

About 20 officers have been found to be using drugs in as many years. The figure gave rise to concerns drug use among policemen could be far higher.

Asked whether more testing would be introduced, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia was coy, telling this newspaper he was looking into the possibility. “We are looking at the practices in other EU Member States before rushing into any changes,” he said earlier this month.

A spokeswoman for Minister Farrugia said: “The minister already stated in Parliament that standard operating procedure will be reviewed so that members of the police corps will be subjected to possible urine tests”.

Information tabled in Parliament on Tuesday indicated that more than 230 random urine tests were carried out on military personnel last year, with five testing positive for drug use.

The military sources yesterday said the random tests kept soldiers on their toes, serving as an effective deterrent. “Would you take drugs if you knew you could be subject to a random test and lose your job? Having these tests also means that if someone thinks they can get away with drug use while serving in the army, they stand a good chance of being caught,” they added.

The sources said they were not surprised that five military personnel had failed urine tests in 2017, adding that about as many were weeded out every year.

When a member of the armed forces was caught using drugs, they were normally discharged “in the interest of the service”, the sources explained.