A great investment has been made in the training regime of the correctional officers and K9 units at the prison to enhance security.  Such training has, in turn, had a positive effect on the drug problem, a Ministry spokesperson told The Malta Independent.

Earlier this month the Corradino Correctional Facility Director Colonel Alexander Dalli had testified in court, saying that “there are no drugs in prison”.

“We have eradicated them,” he had said.

Questioned about the boast, a spokesperson from the Ministry of Home Affairs and National Security explained that apart from the aforementioned investments in training regimes, body scanners and baggage scanners had also contributed to a positive change.

A recent change in legislation whereby synthetic drugs were made illegal also, according to the ministry, lent a helping hand in limiting drug use at the prison.

And, apart from investment in other equipment having added correctional officers to find other illicit objects within the correctional parameter, this newsroom is informed that correctional officers have also been trained in fire fighting, first aid and constraint.

Dalli had taken a tough stance on tackling drug abuse in an episode of Xarabank back in February, to the point that he said he had controversially restricted visitation rights and even conjugal visits.

Current and previous prisoners had spoken on the aforementioned episode saying that their lives had been uprooted by drugs and they supported the Director’s methods to clear the prison of illicit substances.

One of the prisoners did error on the side of caution, saying that he “will not say that drugs have been completely eradicated, as no prison in the world is free of drugs, but they have been reduced by about 90%”.

This has not come without problems as a couple recently filed a judicial protest against the Director General, claiming that the latter would not allow them to marry.

Yousef Essesi is currently serving a prison sentence. Essesi and his partner, Meliza Muscat, have agreed to marry but claim that the prison director is an "abusive" obstacle that prevents them from doing so.

"The protestants have a right to marry based on the rights of the protection of the family as listed in the Constitution of Malta and also protected by Fundamental Human Rights. The prison director is refusing to allow the detainee to leave prison with an escort for the sole purpose of marrying his partner," the judicial protest reads, adding that this is normal protocol for inmates who wish to marry.