A large quantity of drugs was found in a culvert outside Corradino Correction Facility, in the same week inmates were caught with illegal substances and mobile phones in their cells, the Times of Malta has learnt.

A significant amount of what was believed to have been a synthetic drug, which is becoming very common within the prison walls, was found in a big plastic bag, sources close to the CCF said.

Prison authorities seemed to be at a loss on what needed to be done to prevent drugs entering what is supposed to be the country’s most secure rehabilitation facility, they added.

The sources said the discovery of the large stash by two officers patrolling the area outside the prison came after two inmates were caught handling illegal substances.

The first incident took place inside the lock-up at the law courts, in Valletta, which is considered to be an extension of the prison and manned by CCF staff. An inmate was escorted to Valletta for a court hearing.

Authorities are at a loss on what needs to be done to prevent drugs entering prison.

While he was sitting at the back of the courtroom, waiting for his case to be called, prison warders spotted suspicious movements by his father, who was sitting on the same bench next to his son.

The father, the sources said, was seen handing over something to his son, who made a sudden movement to place the item underneath his clothing. The warders took no action and waited until the sitting was over.

The prisoner was then taken to the lock-up downstairs and straight into the search room where a sachet containing a considerable amount of a greenish substance, believed to be cocaine, dropped out as soon as the prisoner unfastened his belt.

He was taken to the police headquarters in Floriana and then to the CCF’s Division Six, the maximum security wing, where he will remain for the next 10 days.

More drugs were found when a fist-fight broke out between two inmates. During the fight, outside Division Three, a sachet of synthetic drugs dropped out of one of the prisoners’ pocket, the sources said.

A subsequent raid on the prisoner’s cell yielded a mobile phone, hidden under the mattress.

A mobile phone was also found in the possession of another prisoner, the sources added. He was seen using it when a prison warden peeped into his cell to wish him goodnight.

Yesterday afternoon, a search in an inmate’s cell in Division 11 yielded four bags containing a total of almost a kilogramme of synthetic drugs as well as two mobiles and USB wires.

Questions sent to the Home Affairs Ministry about the matter remained unanswered at the time of writing.