Prisoners were caught with drugs on more than 7000 occasions last year.
The figures, obtained through a Freedom of Information request, show how the amount of etizolam – similar to Valium but is reportedly stronger and more dangerous – has risen by 600 per cent in the last year.
The pills, known as the “Blue Plague”, were linked to 814 deaths in Scotland in 2019.
Tory justice brief Liam Kerr said: “Prisons should be helping to rehabilitate offenders but we have little chance of achieving that if they are rife with drugs.”
