3,732 urine tests on prisoners in past two years

3,732 urine tests were conducted on prisoners and 220 on prison wardens in the last two years, home affairs minister Carmelo Abela revealed.

In response to a series of parliamentary questions by Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis on the prison’s clampdown on drugs , Abela said that 1,440 urine tests were carried out in 2012, but only 262 in 2011, 263 in 2010 and 252 in 2009.

“Prison visitors and other prison employees are now being searched more rigorously,” he said, while lambasting the previous administration for leaving the prison’s K9 drug unit in a shambles.

“The ten drug-sniffing dogs were allowed to become the inmates’ pets, and a dog handler wasn’t even assigned to them,” he said, adding that the government last year spent €14,400 to purchase six German Shepherds – that have been involved in over 2,300 inspections so far.

“Each dog has been assigned its own personal dog trainer, and all of them are regularly trained. “These dogs are kept in an adequate building outside the prison, and an air-conditioned van has been bought specifically to transfer them to and from the prison.”