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A letter containing MDMA was sent from the House of Commons to a prisoner

Jail directors have launched a formal investigation

A letter sent on House of Commons headed paper to a prisoner at HMP Coldingley was found to be contaminated with MDMA.

The letter, sent by a junior parliament official on March 22, failed a drug screening and has now prompted a Class A drug probe by jail directors.

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Shortly after arriving at HMP Coldingley, a category c men’s prison in Surrey, the letter was said to have been exposed to large quantities of MDMA powder before reaching the recipient at the facility.

The inmate has requested information from the Common’s library, a bank containing information and statistics about parliamentary matters. The inmate never received the letter and therefore doesn't know its contents, due to it being confiscated after it was found to be contaminated with the Class A drug.

On the evening of September 12, officers had confirmed that they had launched a formal investigation and are working directly with the Ministry of Justice.

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“It was a very odd case but someone who has handled the letter somewhere along the line could have had enough on their hands for our scanners to pick up,” a source told The Sun.

The House of Commons has its own post offices and mail services to support the millions of letters sent to and from parliament every year, officials from Parliament have yet to provide comment.

Aneesa Ahmed is Mixmag's Digital Intern, follow her on Twitter