‘Crystal meth’ found at the Home Office

The maximum penalty for possession of the substance is seven years

Class A drugs, reported to be crystal meth, were found at the Home Office headquarters, the government department has confirmed. Police removed a "small quantity" of the substance from a communal area of the department’s Westminster office on Marsham Street on May 3. [caption id="attachment_178269" align="alignnone" width="3000"] The Home Office building where 5,000 staff work (Credit: Peter MacDiarmid)[/caption] The crystal meth is understood to have been discovered in a disabled toilet in the building, according to the Sunday Mirror. Police were called in by security guards who discovered the discarded substance. A Home Office spokesman said: "A small quantity of drugs was found within the 2 Marsham Street estate. The incident was referred to the police by building security, who attended the site and removed the substance. "The police advised no further action was needed. "We take incidents of this nature extremely seriously, always ensure that proper procedures are followed and take appropriate action based on the advice of the police." [caption id="attachment_178270" align="alignnone" width="3000"] A bit of methamphetamine (Credit: Fiona Goodall)[/caption] The incident happened a few days after Sajid Javid replaced Amber Rudd as home secretary. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the drugs were found in "a communal area by security staff" and police attended at 5pm on 3 May. "The substance was seized by officers and taken to a local police station. Advice was provided to security staff. No suspects have been identified at this time."