It has been reported that the Corradino Correctional Facility has experienced a sudden spike in drug overdoses as “an unprecedented amount of drugs, especially synthetic drugs” found their way to prison inmates.
Large quantities of drugs have recently been found in a culvert outside the Paola prison and several inmates have been caught in possession of illegal substances and mobile phones in their cells. Even the so-called secluded maximum security Division Six, where the most vulnerable prisoners are kept, has not been immune.
One source commented: “It is becoming increasingly easier to find drugs inside here than outside.” Another said prisoners’ relatives were complaining about the huge amounts of money they were having to fork out to drug dealers.
The new Home Affairs and National Security Minister, Michael Farrugia, denied claims that the situation is out of control. He insisted that new security procedures (so far unspecified) were being “rolled out following new security preparatory works carried out in the past legislature”.
The CCF has been left by successive government administrations to bump along the bottom. Home affairs ministers have occasionally taken an initiative to make an improvement in, say, parole, educational or rehabilitation facilities. However, on the whole they have been content to keep their heads down.
The public only becomes aware of conditions at the CCF sporadically. All the reports and hearsay accounts from those who have seen what goes on within the CCF walls describe a 170-year-old Victorian prison that is shabby, overcrowded and poorly run.
Drug use in prisons is not unique to Malta. To say that is not in any way to excuse or condone what has happened. What matters is the way that the prison authorities deal with the problem. As the ministry’s replies on these latest drug incidents show, information about the true conditions at CCF tend to be sparse, as though the government has something to hide or, worse, has no idea how to deal with the situation.
The impression one is left with is of a dysfunctional organisation, where morale is low and investment in manpower, security and health and safety are deficient. If that impression is incorrect, then it is for the Home Affairs and National Security Minister to put the record straight by providing the information to rebut this impression in the public domain. He must then walk the talk.
The CCF claims it has a policy of zero tolerance to drugs. Although this is commendable, it cannot work unless it is underpinned by organisational improvements to the way the battle against drugs is conducted. To succeed it must be supported by major investment in modern drug detection equipment, backed up by adequately trained manpower resources. Without an injection of human resources, equipment and infrastructure, improvements to the prison’s never-ending battle against drug abuse will not be achieved.
Questions that need to be answered include: given the importance of the security response team for detection of drugs and all access into the CCF, is its strength commensurate to the task? Are its technical drug detection resources adequate? What up-to-date investment has been made in modern drug detection security equipment and proper CCTV surveillance of inmates and their visitors by the control room?