Updated Tuesday - Synthetic drug was found in a prison cell at Corradino in a raid during which sniffer dogs were used.

The Home Affairs Ministry said the prisoner who occupies the cell also tested positive in a drug urine test.

He is being questioned by the police.  

In a statement, the PN said that the discovery of the drug showed how Labour had failed its promise to stamp out drugs from the prisons.

The shadow minister for home affairs, Beppe Fenech Adami, said the prisons needed to be led by a serious officer. Ray Zammit was not fit for purpose after having been found guilty of abuse of power in the cover-up following the shooting incident involving the driver of former minister Manuel Mallia and after he was involved in business dealings with the Gaffarena family despite being in the police force.

“Ray Zammit’s position in the running of the prisons is dangerous in view of the dangerous relationship that exists between Castille, the police and crime,” Dr Fenech Adami said.

In a counter-reply, the Ministry of Home Affairs said tat as declared by the courts, there was a drugs racket at the courts at the time of the former government, when Dr Fenech Adami was parliamentary assistant in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

This government had shown commitment in the fight against drugs by investing in sniffer dogs. Under the former government, the dogs had become the inmates' pets.

This government was also ensuring there were regular drug tests at the prisons involving both the prisoners and the warders.